Laser engineered net shaping of antimicrobial and biocompatible titanium-silver alloys

Post-surgery infection is one of the main causes of orthopedic implant failure. This paper presents a powder-feed 3D printing strategy for fabrication of silver (Ag) incorporated titanium (Ti) alloys as an antimicrobial solution for orthopedic implants. Alloys with various Ag concentration, ranging from 0.5% to 2% by weight, were fabricated through laser engineered net shaping (LENS) process. The composition and surface of the fabricated alloys were characterized through X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and 3D surface profiling. The mechanical properties, antimicrobial performance, and biocompatibility of the alloys were also investigated. Results showed that LENS fabricated TiAg alloys had a marginally higher microhardness and a lower ductility compared to pure Ti. Within only 3 h, TiAg alloys significantly reduced the bacterial attachment of both gram-positive and gram-negative strains by one to four orders of magnitudes. These alloys also demonstrated excellent in-vitro biocompatibility to human osteosarcoma cells. For the first time, laser engineered net shaping (LENS) of TiAg alloy has been explored as an antimicrobial solution for orthopedic applications and showed great potential for biomedical instrumentation.