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Design and Characterization of Novel Biomedical Zr–4Cu–xNb–xSn Alloys for Hard Tissue Substitution

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Abstract

The problems of high elastic modulus and poor friction and wear properties should be investigated and solved for further promotion of the application of biomedical alloys. For the first time, Zr–4Cu–xNb–xSn (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1) biomedical alloys with low elastic modulus and excellent tribological performance are designed and vacuum smelted in this work. Phase analysis and microstructural observation indicate that the Zr–4Cu–xNb–xSn alloys consist of two phases, i.e., α-Zr and Zr3Cu. Zr3Cu is mainly concentrated in the grain boundary and the eutectoid structure. With the increase in Nb and Sn contents, content of the grain boundary Zr3Cu changes in a zigzag manner. Compression tests indicate that the alloys have low elastic modulus (25.2–27.45 GPa), high compressive strength (1024–1139 MPa) and elastic energy (7.14 MJ/m3–11.80 kJ/m3). Compressive fracture behaviors have been investigated concerning the mechanism with alloying contents and microstructure. Through the tribological test in artificial saliva, it is indicated that the Zr–4Cu–xNb–xSn alloys have better friction and wear properties than pure titanium. Wear mechanism of the alloys is mainly abrasive wear and fatigue wear.

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Acknowledgements

This research work is supported by the Guangxi Natural Science Foundation (2018GXNSFDA050008, 2020GXNSFAA159093), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51761002), the National Key R&D Program of China (2016YFB0301400), the Training Plan of High-Level Talents of Guangxi University (XMPZ160714) and the research Project of Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metallic and Featured Materials (GXYSSF1807).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaxia Gan, Jiakai Zhang, Jianfeng Zhang, Hongqun Tang & Yongzhong Zhan

  2. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metal and Featured Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaxia Gan, Jiakai Zhang, Jianfeng Zhang, Hongqun Tang & Yongzhong Zhan

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  1. Xiaxia Gan
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  2. Jiakai Zhang
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  3. Jianfeng Zhang
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  4. Hongqun Tang
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Correspondence to Hongqun Tang or Yongzhong Zhan.

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Gan, X., Zhang, J., Zhang, J. et al. Design and Characterization of Novel Biomedical Zr–4Cu–xNb–xSn Alloys for Hard Tissue Substitution. Arab J Sci Eng 46, 6075–6084 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-021-05356-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-021-05356-6

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