A novel cytocompatible, hierarchical porous Ti6Al4V scaffold with immobilized silver nanoparticles

Owing to their mechanical properties and bioinertness titanium alloys remain the preferred load-bearing implant material in orthopedics. However, unsatisfactory osteointegration and risks of infection are the two major problems. Herein, Ti6Al4V prostheses with 3D hierarchical (macro/micro-nano) porosity were constructed by combining the state-of-art electron beam melting (EBM) additive manufacturing (AM) process with a traditional micro-arc oxidization (MAO) technique for enhanced integration with bone tissues, and as a measure to improve their antimicrobial properties, releasable silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were homogeneously immobilized on the multi-scaled porous surfaces via a mussel-inspired strategy. The cytocompatibility of the engineered scaffolds (EBM–MAO/Ag) outperformed the untreated, due to synergistic benefits from micro/nano-porous topography and adhesive chemical composition.