Dense drug-eluting biodegradable Fe-Ag nanocomposites

Biodegradable metals in orthopedics are aimed to eliminate secondary the surgical intervention for implant removal, and thus improve patient compliance, reduce surgery costs and the risk of infections. In addition, biodegradable implants could be loaded with different drugs to prevent the growth of pathogens and the development of bone infections, kill remaining cancer cells after tumor resection or stimulate bone regeneration. However, drugs undergo thermal decomposition under the conditions of conventional metal fabrication processes. In this work, we describe the fabrication of a dense drug-eluting biodegradable Fe-Ag nanocomposite containing 10 vol% of Ag and loaded with the antibiotic vancomycin by consolidation at ambient temperature utilizing advanced cold sintering. Fabricated Fe10Ag nanocomposites loaded with 1 wt% VH combined strength of 225 and 123 MPa in compression and bending tests, respectively, and antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus. Finally, the show good cell compatibility with a human osteoblast-like cell line. Our findings show the promise of this simple process to produce drug-eluting biodegradable metals.