Biocompatibility of Ni-free Zr-based bulk metallic glasses

Three Ni-free Zr-based BMGs with composition of Zr60Nb5Cu20Fe5Al10, Zr60Nb5Cu22.5Pd5Al7.5, Zr60Ti6Cu19Fe5Al10 were fabricated by suck copper-mould casting. All the BMGs prepared exhibit good glassy forming ability and wide supercooled liquid region ranging from 38 to 99 K. These BMGs also show good mechanical properties under static compression with yield strength of over 1350 MPa, Youngʹs modulus of 70–80 GPa, and plastic strain of 3.6–9.5%. Friction and wear tests revealed that the BMGs exhibit much better wear resistance than the medical alloy Ti6Al4V, although BMGs have a higher friction coefficient. In addition, the in vitro test indicated that the BMGs have a similar or even better cell viability and proliferation activity as compared with Ti6Al4V. Finally, the in vivo evaluation of the BMGs was carried out by the implantation of BMG samples into white rabbits. It is shown that the BMG implants performed as well as the Ti alloy, demonstrating that the Ni-free Zr-based BMGs developed in this work are promising in medical applications.