materials Article Microstructural, Mechanical, Corrosion and Cytotoxicity Characterization of Porous Ti-Si Alloys with Pore-Forming Agent Andrea Školáková 1,*, Jana Körberová 1 , Jaroslav Málek 2 , Dana Rohanová 3, Eva Jablonská 4, Jan Pinc 1, Pavel Salvetr 1 , Eva Gregorová 3 and Pavel Novák 1 1 Department of Metals and Corrosion Engineering, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Technická 5, 166 28 Prague 6, Czech Republic;
[email protected] (J.K.);
[email protected] (J.P.);
[email protected] (P.S.);
[email protected] (P.N.) 2 UJP Praha a.s., Nad Kamínkou 1345, 156 10 Prague 16, Czech Republic;
[email protected] 3 Department of Glass and Ceramics, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Technická 5, 166 28 Prague 6, Czech Republic;
[email protected] (D.R.);
[email protected] (E.G.) 4 Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Technická 5, 166 28 Prague 6, Czech Republic;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +420-220-444-055 Received: 12 November 2020; Accepted: 7 December 2020; Published: 9 December 2020 Abstract: Titanium and its alloys belong to the group of materials used in implantology due to their biocompatibility, outstanding corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties. However, the value of Young’s modulus is too high in comparison with the human bone, which could result in the failure of implants. This problem can be overcome by creating pores in the materials, which, moreover, improves the osseointegration. Therefore, TiSi2 and TiSi2 with 20 wt.% of the pore-forming agent (PA) were prepared by reactive sintering and compared with pure titanium and titanium with the addition of various PA content in this study.