Synthesis and characterisation of bioactive bone implant materials

Research in the “New Materials” group is aimed at the development of bioactive implant materials. An example for this is the use of the piezoelectric effect to induce an electric stimulus through variable mechanical stress. In this work, another approach will be made, following the idea to induce small-scale electric fields by variable external magnetic fields which will cause the stimulation of bone growth. This will be achieved by developing  a surface coating on already existing passive implant materials. The introduction of a surface coating has advantages over the development of an entirely new implant material with respect to the practical implementation.

• Development and synthesis of a magnetic composite coating
• Development and optimization with respect to coatings on porous alloys
• Characterization of samples:
  XRD, TEM
  Mössbauer spectroscopy
  AFM, MFM, KFM
  AC susceptometry
  Cell tests on coated surfaces

In addition to the entired graduate school my supervisors are:

• Prof. Dr. Eberhard Burkel
• Prof. Dr. Rainer Bader