Julieta L. Merlo

The development of implant materials should consider obtaining a suitable surface to achieve integration with the adjacent bone. The surface chemistry and morphology can affect the anchorage and consequent cell growth on the implanted material and thus affect the compatibility between the host tissue and the material. The use of magnesium-based alloys as temporary implants implicates also the release of great amount hydrogen and ions to the surrounding medium [1. 2]. The aim of this project is to reduce early stages of AZ91 magnesium alloy degradation by applying sol-gel silica-based coatings including bioactive glass and antibiotics. This approach will improve the bioactive response and antibacterial properties at early implantation times. The project is carried out in the framework of the “Renewal George Forster Fellowship for Experienced Researchers”, _Alexander von Humboldt FoundationAlexander von Humboldt Foundation, awarded to Prof. Josefina Ballarre (National University of Mar del Plata, Argentina).

[1] H. Hornberger, S. Virtanen, A.R. Boccaccini, Biomedical coatings on magnesium alloys – A review, Acta Biomaterialia 8 (2012) 2442-2455.
[2] S. Omar, Y. Castro, J. Ballarre, W. Schreiner, A. Durán, S. Ceré, Magnesium alloys implants coated with 58S sol-gel bioactive glass to retard first stage corrosion, Corrosion 273 (2017) 1448-1460.