1. Monitorizing nitinol alloy surface reactions for biofouling studies
- Author
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Dinu, C.Z., Dinca, V.C., Soare, S., Moldovan, A., Smarandache, D., Scarisoareanu, N., Barbalat, A., Birjega, R., Dinescu, M., and DiStefano, V. Ferrari
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FOULING , *BIOFILMS , *SURFACE chemistry , *PHYSICAL & theoretical chemistry - Abstract
Abstract: Growth and deposition of unwanted bacteria on implant metal alloys affect their use as biomedical samples. Monitoring any bacterial biofilm accumulation will provide early countermeasures. For a reliable antifouling strategy we prepared nitinol (NiTi) thin films on Ti-derived substrates by using a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method. As the microstructure of Ti-alloy is dictated by the tensile strength, fatigue and the fracture toughness we tested the use of hydrogen as an alloying element. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) investigated the crystalline structure, chemical composition and respectively the surface morphology of the nitinol hydrogen and hydrogen-free samples. Moreover, the alloys were integrated and tested using a cellular metric and their responses were systematic evaluated and quantified. Our attractive approach is meant to select the suitable components for an effective and trustworthy anti-fouling strategy. A greater understanding of such processes should lead to novel and effective control methods that would improve in the future implant stability and capabilities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Published
- 2007
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