A nanostructured coating platform technology for protection and functionalisation of magnesium-based implants

Degradable metals have significant potential for enhancing performance of medical implants in a number of clinical fields including cardiovascular and orthopaedics. Magnesium has attracted increasing attention as a biomaterial for degradable medical implants in recent years. The principal limitation to realising this potential is the uncontrolled, rapid, corrosion of magnesium at physiological pH in the high chloride environment of the physiological system. Attempts to control degradation have used alloying Mg and coatings/surface treatments. Success with these have been modest at best. This proposal aims to demonstrate the potential for PVD coating technology to provide tailored degradation of magnesium-based implantable medical device. The technology comprises a novel innovative multiphase nanostructured coating to control the durability of magnesium implantable medical devices. The multilayer coatings will contain a novel amorphous filling layer that fills defects in the degradable layer to prevent crevice corrosion accelerating the control layer. This is an approach that is used for dielectric materials and part of this research will be to establish a biocompatible version. The development of these coatings will be underpinned by high impact fundamental science to understand the relationship between composition, structure and mechanism of degradation of the nanostructured coatings.