Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chulalongkorn University, 2015

Ti-based metallic glass (MG) is a new class of titanium alloys that exhibits excellent properties for biomedical applications. In general, it has high strength, low elastic modulus, good corrosion resistance and satisfactory biocompatibility. Toxic free Ti-based amorphous alloys with copper component could be able to provide anti-microbacterial property without containing toxic element such as Ni and Al. This work reported on a systematic study of a new Ti44Zr10Pd10Cu6Co23Ta7, Ti44Zr10Pd10Cu6Co23Ta7 and Ti44Zr10Pd10Cu6Co23Ta7 metallic glass. Cylindrical rod samples with a diameter of 5 mm and 20 mm length were fabricated by induction melting and casting into copper mold. The cast rod was then used as plasma cathode in filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) deposition chamber. The Ti-based metallic glass (MG) 25-nm thin film was produced and tested for subsequent cell culture investigation to understand the biocompatibility nature of the new alloy. For antiseptic ability of the novel metal glass, the copper release test and antiseptic performance against Staphylococcus Aureus were performed. Characterizations included Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Xray photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS), Dektak test for metal film thickness, 3D confocal microscope for surface roughness and scratch test for adhesion strength, Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry were studied. The Ti-6Al-4V alloy was studied in parallel as a control material. This new Ti-based MG composition has shown promising osteoblast biocompatible characteristics, no cytotoxicity on human osteoblast-like cells (SaOS-2) and be able to decrease bacterial biofilm. Moreover, cells on Ti-based MG thin film exhibited greater levels of calcium deposition using Alizarin Red staining technique to those of the control. All results point out that the novel Ti based amorphous alloy has potential for using as biomedical application and deserve further study.