Elaboration de revêtements à base de tantale et de nanotubes de carbone sur titane et Nitinol

: vers de nouvelles plateformes pour biomatérieux osseux

Abstract

Every year, several million people worldwide must appeal to orthopedic surgery to repair osseous defects due to diseases or traumatic events. Corresponding medical needs are in constant evolution, as well for implant durability (depending of patient’s age, morphology…) as for therapeutic efficiency (reduction of immune risks – allergies, carcinogenic effets…). Scientific research related to the design and optimization of platform (bio)materials for bone substitutes takes thus on crucial importance. In this context, the present work specifically focus on the reinforcement of surface properties of metallic platforms based on titanium and Nitinol (nickel-titanium alloy), whose biochemical and mechanical characteristics (biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, density, strength, shape memory effect and superelasticity for Nitinol) are particularly interesting for further uses in orthopedic medicine. Different approaches are considered to this end in order to consolidate the barrier effect at the material-host interface and to improve the bioactive capacities for inducing and guiding the osseous (re)growth after implantation: sol-gel and electrochemical deposition of thin tantalum oxide coatings, molecular self-assembly of multifunctional organophosphonic acids, and incorporation of chemically-modified carbon nanotubes. The main goal of this study aims at the in-depth investigation of the phenomena underlying the exploited surface treatments. It also intends to highlight their direct consequences in terms of films composition and morphology, as well as their protective and functional abilities. This will be undertaken through spectroscopic (XPS, EDX), microscopic (SEM, TEM, AFM) and electrochemical (CV, LSV, SECM) characterizations.

Date of Award	21 Nov 2014
Original language	French
Awarding Institution	University of Namur
Sponsors	Fund for Research Training in Industry and Agriculture (FRIA)
Supervisor	Zineb Mekhalif (Supervisor), Joseph DELHALLE (President), Frédéric Kanoufi (Jury), Rudi Cloots (Jury) & Benjamin ELIAS (Jury)