Design of a new Ti-Mo-Cu alloy with excellent mechanical and antibacterial properties as implant materials

This study aims to develop Ti-Mo-Cu alloys with antibacterial properties for reducing the possibility of bacterial infection during biomedical implant surgeries. The Ti-Mo-Cu alloy was designed via d-electron alloy design theory and manufactured by adding Cu with Ti-15Mo as the precursor. The microstructure, mechanical properties and antibacterial properties of Ti-Mo-Cu alloy were studied. The Ti-Mo-Cu is mainly composed of beta-Ti, alpha-Ti and Ti2Cu. The Ti2Cu phase is mainly concentrated at the grain boundaries, forming a network structure to enhance the strength (compressive strength:1342 +/- 30 MPa). And increasing of beta-Ti reduces the elastic modulus (67 +/- 3 GPa). After 24 h of bacterial culture, the antibacterial rate for E. coli and S. aureus were found to be above the 90% threshold required for antibacterial certification, exhibiting excellent antibacterial properties of the TiMo-Cu alloy.