In vitro and in vivo studies on Ti-based bulk metallic glass as potential dental implant material

In this study, a high glass forming system, Ti41.5Zr2.5Hf5Cu37.5Ni7.5Si1Sn5 (TZHCNSS) bulk metallic glass (BMG), is studied in terms of microstructure, surface analysis, mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo biocompatibility. It is found that the as-prepared TZHCNSS samples are fully amorphous by XRD and TEM observations, as well as DSC curve. Comparing with pure Ti, TZHCNSS BMG shows superior mechanical properties with higher hardness and better wear resistance. Due to the oxide film formed on its surface, TZHCNSS BMG shows great corrosion resistance close to pure Ti in electrochemical measurements. The pitting corrosion potential in artificial saliva solution is much higher than that in SBF solution. The indirect and direct cytotoxicity results show that TZHCNSS extracts had obvious low cell viability on both L929 and NIH3T3 cells. However, the in vivo testing results proved that TZHCNSS BMG could integrate with bone tissue, showing excellent osseointegration.