The influence of cold rolling and hydroxyapatite coating on the mechanostructure, corrosion resistance, cell viability, and antibacterial activity of ZnCu biodegradable implants

Zinc (Zn) and its alloys exhibit great potential for utilization in biodegradable bone implants. Zn-1Cu biodegradable alloy was produced and were cold rolled at two different deformation rates of 47 and 61%. The samples have been bioceramic coated with the sol–gel method and microstructure-mechanical property changes, corrosion behavior and biocompatibility of the samples were investigated. They were characterized by Optical, SEM, XRD and wettability analysis. The rolled samples showed a significant increase in hardness when compared to the non-rolled samples. The unrolled and 47% rolled samples showed better corrosion resistance compared to 61% rolled samples. Antibacterial effects of the base and sol–gel-coated groups showed higher cell viability ratios than the uncoated groups. Cell viability increased significantly in 47% of the rolled samples after 24, 48, and 72 h, however decreased by up to 70% in 61% of the rolled samples.

Graphical abstract