Titanium is one of the most common materials for bone grafting, but it has serious defects. Its elasticity, hardness and other physical and mechanical parameters greatly exceed those of bone tissue. In many cases, this results in too little mechanical load on the bone protection area of the implant, resulting in its gradual degradation.
To make up for this shortcoming, researchers studied a series of titanium-niobium alloys and their nanostructure mechanisms on the surface. In the study of soft niobium titanium alloys with niobium content ranging from 5% to 50%, it was found that titanium alloys with niobium content of 25% had the highest cellular activity.By fabricating titanium oxide nanotubes on the surface of the grafts, the survival rate of the grafts can be improved. Titanium oxide nanotubes can improve tissue proliferation and adhesion of cells to metal surfaces.
With the increase of niobium content, the formation of oxide nanotubes on the surface of titanium alloy was accelerated. Nanotubes grown by electrochemical anodizing can be loaded onto the implant surface prior to surgery for local drug delivery, such as antibiotics or growth factors, due to their hollow structure.By changing the niobium content and electrochemical anodic oxidation parameters, the geometrical parameters, physical and mechanical properties of the nanotubes can be controlled to create implants with specific characteristics that maximize the requirements of clinical objectives.
