Titanium and its alloys are preferred metal materials for bone replacement, as they have proven a better biocompatibility and good mechanical properties in comparison to other metals and alloys used in medicine. However, they have poor tribological properties and are bio-inert biomaterials which means that they cannot directly bond to the bone. Some of those poor mechanical and biological properties of titanium can be improved by making composite materials using titanium to reinforce ceramic particles for example hydroxyapatite. Hydroxyapatite (HA, Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂) is bio-active material and after some time it is partially resorbed and replaced by natural bone. Unfortunately, hydroxyapatite had poor mechanical properties and cannot be used for hard tissue replacement implants. For this reason, fabrication of Ti – based composites reinforced with ceramics particles seems to be a promising candidate way to create more perfect implants.

In the present work Ti-HA (3, 10, 20, 50 vol%) nanocomposites were produced by the combination of mechanical alloying (MA) and powder metallurgical process. The resulting microstructures were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscopy. The properties of the nanocomposites were investigated by mechanical and in vitro studies. The experimental results show, that Ti-HA nanocomposites have better mechanical and corrosion properties in comparison with microcrystalline titanium. Foe example: Vickers microhardness of Ti-10 vol% HA nanocomposite is 1500 HV0.2 (pure Ti metal – 250  HV0.2) and corrosion resistance in Ringer solution is I_c = 1.19 · 10^-7 A/cm², E_c = -0.41 V for Ti-10 vol% HA and I_c = 1.31 · 10^-5 A/cm², E_c = -0.36 V for Ti. In conclusion, titanium – ceramics nanocomposite are suitable for hard tissue replacement from the point of view of both mechanical and corrosion properties.

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