University of Gondar

Institute of Technology

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Biomaterials and Implants

Lecture 2: Properties of Biomaterials

Email: [email protected]
 Learning Outcomes

 At the end of this lecture, you will be able to

 Distinguish between bulk and surface properties of materials
 list the basic mechanical properties of materials
 represent the property of ductile material using stress stain curve
 identify the common methods of surface characterization in
biomaterial surface
 Properties of Biomaterials

 Bulk properties

 surface properties

 Biological properties
 Properties of Biomaterials

 The bulk of a material presents physical and chemical

properties of the material that remain during the lifetime of the
implant.

 Surface properties is defined by chemical, microstructure and

it interacts with the host tissue directly.
 Bulk Properties

 could be intrinsic or extrinsic properties of materials.

 Stiffness of metal (type/composition)
 yield strength of metal (grain/crystal size, number & distribution of
effect.
 stiffness of polymer(measured by stretching the polymer/ alignment
of molecules
 absorption /emission of light (present in surface property too)
 magnetic susceptibility, electrical conductivity, MP & BP.
 Bulk Properties

 Mechanical Properties
 elasticity
 viscoelasticity
 hardness and strength
 brittle fracture
 fatigue
 Mechanical Properties

 The applications of biomaterials requires a good

understanding of their mechanical properties.

 Mechanical properties may be described as the response of

materials to material loads.

 The mechanical properties are strongly influenced by their

structure/microstructure.
 Mechanical Properties

 Strength of biomaterials is very important in their actual

applications.

 Dependence on structures:
 modifying microstructure Optimizing mechanical properties of
biomaterials in a macroscopic piece.
 Elastic behavior

 Hook’s law:

 Materials extend

depending on the load.

 Stress and Strain

 Normalized load and

deformation:
 Shear

 Incase with applied

load parallel to the area

 shear stress
 shear strain
 Elastic Constants

 E: Young Modulus, G: Shear Modulus

 Inherent properties of

the material
 Mechanical Testing

 Pull /push /bend /rotate

 Elasticity

 Strain gages, load cell and cyclic testing

 Hook’s Law
 Brittle Fracture

 Elastic behavior does not persist indefinitely.

 Due to microscopic defects, materials eventually break.

 Fracture stress
 Plastic Deformation

 Non recoverable deformation

 useful for shaping the materials

 Offset yield strength

 UTS: maximum load experience

 Toughness: work required until the material fail.

 Plastic deformation

 Stress vs strain diagram

 Creep and viscous flow

 Time varying response of materials to the applied load or

strain.

 Creep with constant load

 viscous flow with constant strain

 Creep and viscous flow

 Diagram
 Creep

 Creep at 37 degree C. a significant concern for biomedical

application.
 failure of polymer ligaments.

 creep is a function of crystallinity.

 As % of crystallinity increases, creep decreases.

 Fatigue

 Failure as the result of cyclic stresses

 Important for:
 total hip implant
 artificial heart valve
 pacemaker lead

 # of cycles varies

matter of probability
 Mechanical Properties

 Based on mechanical properties, solids can be classified as:

 Isotropic vs Anisotropic materials
• steel is isotropic, wood is anisotropic

 Simple vs composite materials

• steel is simple, biological materials like bone are composite

 Rigid vs tensile vs plaint

 Material property factors

 Factors affecting material properties

 Temperature
• Increase temperature will decrease
• Modulus of elasticity
• Yield strength
• Tensile strength

• Increasing temperature will

• increase ductility
• reduce brittleness

 Environment:
• sulfites, chlorites, oxygen in water, radiation
 Finite Element Analysis

 Complexity of biomaterials or their structures

 Non elastic behavior
 geometrical non linearity
 Mixed boundary conditions

 FEA
 Computational approach by dividing a structure into a large number of
small parts with interconnecting nodes.
 linking elements by considering adjacent or sharing nodes.
 FEA

 Some Overview
 Surface Properties

 Surface is important because this is the place where

biological reactions occur.
 protein adsorption
 cell adhesion
 cell growth
 blood compatibility
 Surface Properties

 Importance in surface
 unique reactivity
 different from the inner structure
 not much of total mass
 Readily contaminated
 mobile
 Surface Properties

 Biomaterial surface is important in determining the biological

response.

 Some of the biomaterial devices and materials do not leach

undesirable substances in sufficient quantities to influence cells
and tissue.

 The surface structure play an important role in attract the cells

and tissue to respond with materials.
 Surface Properties

 surface is a material near interface, having different properties

from bulk. (few nm layers)

 Parameters:
 roughness, wettability, surface mobility, chemical composition,
electrical charge, crystallinity and heterogeneity to biological reaction.
 Surface Properties

 Surface properties of a biomaterial depends upon:

 surface chemistry: the functional groups on the surface
 surface charge: the property of unbonded electrons in the surface.
 hydrophobicity or contact angle: wettability in a particular liquid.
 the media surrounding the surface: polarity of the surrounding media.
 Surface Properties

 Surface properties of a biomaterial depends upon:

 topography of the surface: average micro and nan roughness of the
surface
 crystallinity: ordered structural repetition on the surface
 reaction with tissue/leaching/protein adsorption
 contaminants in the surface: unwanted oxides, dust, dyes even
fingerprints.
 Surface Properties

 Biomaterial surfaces exhibit remarkable heterogeneity in

physical structure:
 Material dependent: Metal vs polymer, Ceramic vs Gel
 Chemistry: Polar vs Apolar, charge, reactivity, patterned
 Morphology: smooth, rough, stepped, patterned, diffuse
 Order: Crystalline, amorphous, semicrystalline, Phases
 Environment: Hydration, solvent quality
 Surface Properties of materials

 Implant surface
 dense and inert
• implant movement and loosening is possible.

 porous
• ingrowth of tissue(bone) stabilizes the implant
• blood supply is needed for greater pore size
• large porosity degrades the strength of material

 cut off the blood supply – tissue will die – inflammation

 Surface Properties of materials

 Implant surface
 Porous metals:
• large increase of surface area provides focus for corrosion of the implant and
loss of metal ions into the tissue

 porous ceramics
• Advantage: inert + bone ingrowth
• Disadvantage: weaker restricted to non-load bearing application
 Surface Characterization

 Common methods to characterize biomaterial surface

 Surface Properties

 The surface properties for biomaterials which are being

considered for this class are:
 Surface energy
 contact angle
 Critical surface tension

 Reading Assignment: the remaining surface characterization

methods.
 Surface energy

 Interface b/n two layers.

 Main significance:
 Protein adsorption to materials
 blood coagulation/ thrombosis due to material contact
 cellular response to materials
 Surface energy

 Surface energy quantifies the disruption of intermolecular

bonds that occurs when a surface is created.

 It is a measure of the extent to which bonds are unsatisfied at

the surface of material. At the surface, there is a asymmetric
field, which results in an attraction of atoms.
 Surface energy

 Metals and ceramics have surfaces with high surface energies

ranging from 102 to 104 ergs/cm2.

 In contrast, most polymers and plastics have much smaller

surface energies, usually <100 ergs/cm2.

 The surface energy values are subject to much experimental

variation due to adsorption of gases or organic species.
 Contact Angle

 The contact angle is the angle at which a liquid/vapor

interface meets the solid surface.

 It is specific for any given system and is determined by the

interactions across the three interfaces.
 Contact Angle

 When a liquid drop is placed on to the surface of a solid or a

liquid, the processes which occur are:
 The liquid may sit on the surface in the form of a droplet.

Or
 It may spread out over the entire surface depending on the interfacial
free energies of the two substances.
 Contact Angle

 At equilibrium, Contact angle or Young Dupree Equation is

given by:

Where:
θ is the contact angle

And

The interfacial free energies between solid and gas, solid and liquid, liquid and gas respectively.
Contact Angle
 Surface Tension

 Surface tension- the tendency of liquid surface that allows it

to resist an external force.

 Due to the cohesive force

among liquid molecules.

 A paper clip floats in water due to surface tension

 Critical Surface Tension

 It is the value of the surface tension of the liquid below which

the liquid will spread on the solid.

 The critical surface tension of the material is determined by

measuring the different angles of contact angle formed by
liquids with different values of .
 Critical Surface Tension

 It is the surface tension of a liquid that would completely wet

the solid of interest.

 The at which cos = 1 is defined as the critical surface

tension ( ).

 It is found that the amount of thrombus formation increases

and blood clotting time decreases as increases.
 Reading Assignment

 Role of water in biomaterials