Research Projects

Degradable implants are commonly used in bio-medical surgery, which often require a second surgery for removal. These implants are fabricated using bio-degradable materials like polymers, metals, alloys, and ceramics. However, these materials are not suitable for load bearing activity due to their brittle nature and poor strength and fatigue resistance. Despite their advantages, biodegradable metals and their alloys face issues such as slow or fast degradation rates, magnetic properties, and mismatching between the mechanical properties of cellulose bones and the implants, which hinder their real-life applicability. To address these limitations, proper surface engineering techniques are being studied. Surface surfaces of these implants can be coated with suitable bio-degradable ceramic materials or treated with surface mechanical treatments to improve their performance. Coating the implant surface with these materials can improve performance by combining the superior bio-activity of the coating materials with the load bearing activity of the substrate alloy. Surface mechanical treatments do not require additional materials and can improve bio-corrosion, strength, and fatigue resistance. Researchers are primarily focused on the surface coating technique due to its cost-effectiveness and ease of fabrication. The present proposal focuses on the surface coating technique, selecting a suitable bio-degradable metal alloy and coating its surface with various ceramic bio-active bio-degradable materials using techniques like spin coating, deep coating, and sputtering. The functional, bio-medical, mechanical, and antibacterial properties of all fabricated devices will be thoroughly studied and optimized based on bio-medical and load bearing activity.