Additively manufactured Fe-35Mn-1Ag lattice structures for biomedical applications

Highly porous scaffolds of Fe-35Mn-1Ag biodegradable alloy fabricated for the first time using the selective laser melting technique. The microstructure, structural morphology, mechanical properties and degradation behaviour of the scaffold were studied and the results compared with a Fesingle bond35Mn scaffold manufactured under similar processing parameters. The SLM fabricated scaffold exhibits a well-developed pore structure with high levels of interconnectivity, promoting improved biocompatibility. The mechanical properties are very close to those of the target human tissue promising no stress shielding after implantation. While, Fe-35Mn-1Ag scaffold shows slightly higher mechanical properties compared with Fesingle bond35Mn alloy, the degradation rate increased by >30 %. Overall, the SLM fabricated Fe-35Mn-1Ag scaffolds exhibited promising mechanical properties along with improved degradation behaviour, offering a solution for biodegradable load bearing applications.