Fabrication and characterization of porous Ti–10Cu alloy for biomedical application

Porous titanium alloy has been a kind of biocompatible and attractive biomaterial used for orthopedic prosthesis. Porous Ti–10Cu (wt.%) alloys have been fabricated using powder metallurgy approach from TiH2 and Cu powders in this paper. XRD results indicate that the phase constituents of the sintered porous alloy are independent of addition of space holder agent NH4HCO3 granules. Pore characteristics like pore morphology and porosity of porous Ti–10Cu alloys depend strongly on the contents of added space-holder. The low porosity alloy consists of isolated and closed macro-pores as well as interconnected micro-pores. The high porosity alloy is composed of interconnected open macro-pores and micro-pores. The tailored elastic modulus and compressive strength of the alloy decrease with the increase of porosity. Electrochemical measurements show that the corrosion resistance of the porous alloy degrades with the increase of porosity. The pore size, elastic modulus and compressive strength of porous Ti–10Cu alloy with porosity of 53% meet the preliminary requirements of cancellous bones.