Effect of Cu content on the properties of laser powder bed fused biomedical titanium alloys

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) technology enables personalized customization of medical implants. However, the clinical titanium alloy is biologically inert and can't address bacterial infections. It has been proved that Copper (Cu) -bearing titanium alloys exhibit excellent antibacterial ability and potentials for clinical application. However, it still unclear that the effect of Cu content on the comprehensive properties of LPBF-produced titanium alloy which usually has high strength but poor ductility and corrosion resistance caused by its α' martensite. This study systematically investigates the effects of Cu content (x=2, 5, 8 wt.%) on the microstructure, mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, antibacterial properties, and cytrocompatibility of the LPBF-produced Ti-xCu alloys. These results prove that the LPBF produced Ti-5Cu alloy possesses the optimal comprehensive performance and has promising clinical application prospects as implant materials.