On the Use of Functionally Graded Materials to Differentiate the Effects of Surface Severe Plastic Deformation, Roughness and Chemical Composition on Cell Proliferation

Additive manufacturing allows the manufacture of parts made of functionally graded materials (FGM) with a chemical gradient. This research work underlines that the use of FGM makes it possible to study mechanical, microstructural or biological characteristics while minimizing the number of required samples. The application of severe plastic deformation (SPD) by surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) on FGM brings new insights on a major question in this field: which is the most important parameter between roughness, chemistry and microstructure modification on biocompatibility? Our study demonstrates that roughness has a large impact on adhesion while microstructure refinement plays a key role during the early stage of proliferation. After several days, chemistry is the main parameter that holds sway in the proliferation stage. With this respect, we also show that niobium has a much better biocompatibility than molybdenum when alloyed with titanium.