Contact: Birgit Paul, Julia Hufenbach
The interest in biodegradable metallic materials for the application as temporary implants has been continuously increasing within the last years. Due to the progressive degradation after providing a temporary support on healing process of a diseased tissue, disadvantages of permanent implants, such as revision surgery, lacking adaption to growth or chronic inflammation, may overcome.
Due to the broad adjustable range of mechanical properties, the excellent processability and the high mechanical integrity during degradation FeMn-based alloys are of great interest for (cardio)vascular or urological stent applications. Especially twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) alloys, as e.g. Fe-30Mn-1C-0.25S, are attractive candidates due to their high strength and ductility under tensile load, and moderate corrosion rate, as shown in own studies. Owing to the excellent mechanical properties, such TWIP alloys show a high potential for the realization of very thin stent structures. Furthermore, in first in vitro cell culture tests a promising biocompatibility was observed.
The aim of these research activities is the development of novel FeMn-based alloys in combination with tailored preparation processes. Hereby, e.g. special casting technologies or laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/M) - as additive manufacturing technique - are applied for tailoring the microstructure and related mechanical, chemical and biological properties.
Birgit Paul, Amin Bahrami, Veronika Hahn, Antje Quade, Amit Datye, Konrad Kosiba, Stefan Pilz, Phil Goldberg, Udo D. Schwarz, Frank Hempel, Julia Hufenbach, Kornelius Nielsch, Atomic Layer Deposition of ZnO Coating on Biodegradable Fe‐Based Alloys. Advanced Materials Interfaces 12 | 2025 | 2400895. https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202400895
Martin Otto, Thomas Hultsch, Viktoriia Shtefan, Volker Hoffmann, Sviatlana V. Lamaka, Thomas Gemming, Annett Gebert, Jochen Fröhlich, Mikhail Zheludkevich, Julia Hufenbach, Mechanisms of laminar flow controlled in vitro corrosion of a biodegradable Fe-Mn-C steel. Corrosion Science 249 | 2025 | 112860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.corsci.2025.112860
Martin Otto, Jens Freudenberger, Lars Giebeler, Anja Weidner, Julia Hufenbach, Developing austenitic high-manganese high-carbon steels for biodegradable stent applications: Microstructural and mechanical studies. Materials Science and Engineering A 892 | 2024 | 145998. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2023.145998
Birgit Paul, Annika Kiel, Martin Otto, Thomas Gemming, Volker Hoffmann, Lars Giebeler, Bernhard Kaltschmidt, B., Andreas Hütten, Annett Gebert, Barbara Kaltschmidt, Christian Kaltschmidt, Julia Hufenbach, Inherent Antibacterial Properties of Biodegradable FeMnC(Cu) Alloys for Implant Application. ACS Applied Bio Materials 7 | 2024 | 839-852. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsabm.3c00835
Boris Rivkin, Farzin Akbar, Martin Otto, Lukas Beyer, Birgit Paul, Konrad Kosiba, Tobias Gustmann, Julia Hufenbach, Mariana Medina-Sanchez, Remotely Controlled Electrochemical Degradation of Metallic Implants. Small 20 | 2024 | 2307742. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202307742
Birgit Paul, Anja Lode, Anna-Maria Placht, Andrea Voß, Stefan Pilz, Ulrike Wolff, Steffen Oswald, Annett Gebert, Michael Gelinsky, Julia Hufenbach, Cell–Material Interactions in Direct Contact Culture of Endothelial Cells on Biodegradable Iron-Based Stents Fabricated by Laser Powder Bed Fusion and Impact of Ion Release. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 14 | 2022 | 439-451. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c21901
Birgit Paul, Anja Hofmann, Sönke Weinert, Frieda Frank, Ulrike Wolff, Maria Krautz, Jan Edelmann, Michael W. Gee, Christian Reeps, Julia Hufenbach, Effect of blasting treatments on the surface topography and cell adhesion on biodegradable FeMn-based stents processed by laser powder bed fusion. Advanced Engineering Materials 24 | 2022 | 2200961. https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202200961
Nazim Babacan, Fabian Kochta, Volker Hoffmann, Thomas Gemming, Uta Kühn, Lars Giebeler, Annett Gebert, Julia Hufenbach, Effect of silver additions on the microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of biodegradable Fe-30Mn-6Si. Materials Today Communications 28 | 2021 | 102689. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtcomm.2021.102689
Martin Otto, Stefan Pilz, Annett Gebert, Uta Kühn, Julia Hufenbach, Effect of Build Orientation on the Microstructure, Mechanical and Corrosion Properties of a Biodegradable High Manganese Steel Processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion. Metals 11 | 2021 | 944. https://doi.org/10.3390/met11060944
Julia Hufenbach, Jan Sander, Fabian Kochta, Stefan Pilz, Andrea Voß, Uta Kühn, Annett Gebert Effect of Selective Laser Melting on Microstructure, Mechanical, and Corrosion Properties of Biodegradable FeMnCS for Implant Applications. Advanced Engineering Materials 22 | 2020 | 2000182. https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202000182
Julia Hufenbach, Fabian Kochta, Horst Wendrock, Andrea Voss, Lars Giebeler, Steffen Oswald, Stefan Pilz, Uta Kühn, Anja Lode, Michael Gelinsky, Annett Gebert. S and B microalloying of biodegradable Fe-30Mn-1C - Effects on microstructure, tensile properties, in vitro degradation and cytotoxicity. Materials and Design 142 | 2018 | 22-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2018.01.005
Annett Gebert, Fabian Kochta, Andrea Voss, Steffen Oswald, Monica Fernandez-Barcia, Uta Kühn, Julia Hufenbach, Corrosion studies on Fe-30Mn-1C alloy in chloride-containing solutions with view to biomedical application. Materials and Corrosion 69 | 2018 | 167-177. https://doi.org/10.1002/maco.201709476
Julia Hufenbach, Horst Wendrock, Fabian Kochta, Uta Kühn, Anett Gebert, Novel biodegradable Fe-Mn-C-S alloy with superior mechanical and corrosion properties. Materials Letters 186 | 2017 | 330-333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2016.10.037
