Abstract

This study investigates the potential of Ti–Ta–Sn alloys for biomedical applications due to their excellent mechanical properties and biocompatibility, with a particular focus on their use in trabecular bone replacement. This work aims to analyze the influence that of Sn has on the mechanical properties and antibacterial response of ??? ternary Ti–13Ta–xSn (x:3, 6, 9, and 12 at.%) alloy foams. The Ti-based alloys were designed considering three aspects; (i) final microstructure, (ii) alloying element types, and (iii) thermodynamics while using MAAT and ThermoCalc software. The alloys were obtained by mechanical alloying, with used milling times being 30 h for Ti–13Ta–3Sn, 10 h for Ti–13Ta–6Sn, 10 h for Ti–13Ta–9Sn, and 15 h for Ti–13Ta–12Sn. The foams were obtained using NaCl as the space holder (50 v/v% porosity) and consolidated by a hot pressing method at 780 °C for 30 min, applying a load of 40 MPa. Both the Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 strain and Escherichia coli ATCC 8739 strain were used to evaluate the antibacterial responses of Ti-based alloy foams. The Ti-based alloy foams were composed mostly by a mix of ? and ?-phases. The metallic foams exhibited relative homogeneous pore distribution with a size between 100 and 450 ?m and having an average porosity slightly higher than 50%. The samples showed elastic modulus values between 1 and 2 GPa, compressive yield strengths over 150 MPa, and microhardness over 450 HV. All Ti-based alloy foams showed no antibacterial activity nor bacterial adhesion, indicating that there is bacterial adhesion inhibition. © 2023 The Authors