2026/01/01 by Walid M. Daoush, Fawad Inam, Hee S. Park +2 · 1 voice
Engineering · Materials Science · #Bone Tissue Engineering Materials #Intermetallics and Advanced Alloy Properties #Titanium Alloys Microstructure and Properties
paper · pdf · doi:10.1515/ntrev-2025-0276
openalex publication_date 2026/01/01 · openalex created_date 2026/05/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
Abstract Bioinert materials for load-bearing orthopedic applications were fabricated using spark plasma sintering (SPS). The effects of the alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) nanoparticle content and fabrication process conditions on the microstructure, density, hardness, dynamic tensile properties, and nanoindentation properties of Ti–12Ta–6Zr/xAl 2 O 3 bioinert materials were studied. Metallic Ti, Ta, and Zr powders were mechanically milled with 1, 2.5, or 5 % (w/w) Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles as an oxide dispersed strengthening (ODS) reinforcement phase in the metal matrix. The milled powders with different compositions were consolidated using SPS at 1,273 K, followed by heat treatment at 1,473 K and water quenching. The powders and sintered materials were investigated using high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to evaluate the particle size and shape, surface morphology, microstructure, chemical composition, and produced sample phase. Fully dense Ti–12Ta–6Zr/xAl 2 O 3 sintered materials were produced by SPS, and their mechanical properties were improved by subsequent heat treatment. In addition, the hardness and yield strength increased, while the elongation at break decreased, by increasing the Al 2 O 3 nanoparticle content in the Ti–12Ta–6Zr metal matrix. The addition of up to 5 % (w/w) Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles influenced density, hardness, and yield strength of the fabricated materials. The hardness and yield strength of the sintered materials by SPS improved after heat treatment. Increasing the Al 2 O 3 particle content up to 5 % (w/w) increased the hardness from 324 HV to 540 HV (maximum) and the heat treatment process at 1,473 K improved the hardness of the Ti–12Ta–6Zr and Ti–12Ta–6Zr/5 % (w/w) Al 2 O 3 to 448 and 593 HV, respectively. The yield strength is increased after heat treatment by increasing Al 2 O 3 content from 448 MPa for Ti–12Ta–6Zr to 637 MPa for Ti–12Ta–6Zr/5 % (w/w) Al 2 O 3 . Also, the values of the elastic modulus estimated from the tensile stress-strain curves are increased from 24.9 GPa in case of Ti–12Ta–6Zr to 74.59 GPa in case of Ti–12Ta–6Zr/1 wt%Al 2 O 3 . The fracture surfaces of the sintered Ti–12Ta–6Zr/5 % (w/w) Al 2 O 3 exhibits finer grain transgranular cleavage than Ti–12Ta–6Zr. The estimated modulus values extracted from the nano indentation measurements of the Ti–12Ta–6Zr (29.5 GPa) matched with the cortical bone. Our findings suggest that the produced Ti–12Ta–6Zr/xAl 2 O 3 biomaterials have great potential as new candidate materials for load-bearing orthopedic applications.