Liquid metal dealloying combined with polymer impregnation as novel promising technology for bioHEA-based implant manufacturing

Institute of Metal Physics, Ural Branch of the RAS, 18 S. Kovalevskaya Street, Ekaterinburg, 620108, Russia

^* Corresponding author: okulovartem@imp.uran.ru

Abstract

The paper provides a short review of liquid metal dealloying (LMD) combined with subsequent polymer impregnation as promising technology to synthesize low modulus metal-polymer composites for biomedical applications. The introduction presents the key problems and relevance of the development and synthesis of such materials. The “Theoretical basis” chapter defines the LMD method and the main steps required to activate this process. The fundamental principles of thermodynamics, kinetics and morphology evolution of LMD process are presented here. Due to their favorable mechanical characteristics in the context of biomedical applications, the so-called biocompatible high-entropy alloys (bioHEAs) are proposed as promising candidates for LMD treatment combined with polymer impregnation and, accordingly, the synthesis of novel metal-polymer bioHEA materials.