Characterization, performance, biological behavior, and antibiofilm of titanium alloy with addition of ruthenium compared to Ti-6Al-4V and Ti for biomedical application

• Grant number: 25/06659-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: May 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry - Dental Materials
• Principal Investigator: Andréa Cândido dos Reis
• Grantee: Letícia Pupo de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia de Ribeirão Preto (FORP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Ruthenium (Ru) is a chemical element belonging to the platinum group and is advantageousfor being biocompatible, of low cytotoxicity and antimicrobial. The addition of Ru to the Ti-6Al-4V alloy isproposed as an alternative, since it can confer greater biocompatibility by improving corrosion resistance.Thus, this project proposes to characterize and evaluate the performance of Ti-6Al-4V-0.1Ru compared toTi-6Al-4V and Ti. For this purpose, two outcomes will be studied: (1) Physical, chemical, mechanical andelectrolytic characterization and (2) micro and biological behavior. For this purpose, three groups will beused: G1=Ti-6Al-4V-0.1Ru, G2=Ti-6Al-4V, and G3=Ti. The primary outcome will be surface analysis byscanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, surface and linear roughness analysisby laser confocal microscopy, wettability, surface free energy, microhardness, elastic modulus,potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The secondary outcome willverify the predisposition to adhesion after implantation of S. aureus, a microorganism with high affinity forTi surfaces, a possible indicator of initial contamination due to its high prevalence in the oral cavity andskin, through colony-forming units and metabolic activity by XTT, after contact of the discs with humansaliva, and verification of the osteoblastic activity of MC3T3-E1 by cell viability by MTT, expression ofgenes related to osteogenesis by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and mineralization of theextracellular matrix by colorimetric assay. The results obtained will be subjected to parametric or non-parametric tests according to the distribution of the data (± = 0.05). (AU)