Investigating the relationship between microstructures and multiple properties of the novel biomedical Ti-Ta-Cu alloy

Titanium-based materials such as Ti-6Al-4V alloy have been widely applied in the field of biomedical implant materials due to their excellent mechanical properties and fatigue resistance, while their biological toxicity and the lack of antimicrobial properties limit their service reliability and life. Developing the novel Ti-based material with excellent mechanical properties and multiple biofunctions is still an open issue. In this work, the novel Ti-Ta-Cu alloys were designed and fabricated by regulating the Cu content, and the relationship between microstructures and mechanical properties, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, in vitro biocompatibility, and antibacterial properties were investigated. It was found that the Ti-Ta-Cu alloys consist of α phase and the Ti₂Cu precipitates, with the average grain size varying from 158 μm to 210 μm and severe lattice distortion. In addition, the Ti-Ta-Cu alloy with 0.75 wt% Cu has the best comprehensive compression mechanical properties, its yield strength, compressive strain, and Young’s modulus is 1178.8 ± 13.2 MPa, 26.4 ± 0.7 %, and 112.89 ± 3.70 GPa, respectively. The high strength dominantly comes from the solid solution strengthening and the good ductility derives from the refined grain size. Moreover, in comparison to Ti-6Al-4V alloy, the fabricated Ti-Ta-Cu alloys have worse wear resistance but much better corrosion resistance in SBF solution, biocompatibility, and antibacterial properties. This study sets insight for synthesizing Ti alloys with excellent mechanical properties and multiple biofunctions for the biomedical implanting application. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.