Fe–Mn–Cu alloy as biodegradable material with enhanced antimicrobial properties

Abstract Degradable iron (Fe) based materials have been widely investigated for fracture fixation to overcome complications of permanent implants. Our study is focused on the development of a new Fe–Mn–Cu alloy with enhanced antimicrobial properties. In this work, Fe–Mn–Cu alloys, with up to 10 wt% copper (Cu), were prepared by powder metallurgy route. Degradation behaviour of the alloys were studied using potentiodynamic polarization test which showed nearly about 6 times increase in corrosion rate for 10 wt% Cu compared to the base alloy. Addition of Cu has significantly increased microhardness for up to 5 wt% and decreased thereafter. Broth micro-dilution test showed increased antimicrobial activity with Cu addition in Fe–Mn alloy while in vitro cytocompatibility study showed more than 70% cell viability for all alloys. Present study indicates that Cu alloying in Fe–Mn makes it a suitable material for internal fracture fixation devices with enhanced antimicrobial properties.