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Additively manufactured 316L stainless steels (316L SS) using laser powder bed fusion technique (L-PBF) exhibit an excellent combination of high strength and ductility compared to the conventional counterpart. The outstanding material mechanical properties originate from the sub-grain cellular structures developed during the rapid solidification inherent to L-PBF. These structures consist of elongated cells decorated by high density of dislocations, trapped solute, and fine precipitates at their boundaries. The impact of such cellular structures on corrosion resistances, however, remains incompletely understood. In addition, the L-PBF process leads to high surface roughness and usually around 0.1 to 0.5% of porosity. However, the pitting potential of the L-PBF 316L SS can be an order of magnitude higher than the conventional, well annealed counterpart. In this talk, we will first present a detailed multi-scale characterization of the microstructural features unique to L-PBF 316L SS. In a second part, we will present our experimental-simulation integration approach where we combine surface chemistry mapping and electron and atomic force microscopy with multi-scale simulations to understand the effect of local microstructure variations on pitting and metal dissolution rates in NaCl and HCl environments. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. Authors acknowledge the support of the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program (20-SI-004) at LLNL.

The need for direct biomaterial-based delivery of growth factors to wound surfaces to aid in wound healing emphasizes the importance of interfacial interactions between the biomaterial and the wound surface. These interactions include the spatial localization of growth factor, the surface intensity of growth factor in contact with the wound, and the release profile of growth factor to the wound surface. The authors report the use of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry to determine the relationship between biomaterial surface chemistry and the spatial localization of growth factor. They have implemented a novel application of total internal reflectance fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy to measure the surface intensity and release of growth factor in contact with a glass substrate that has been used to model a wound surface. Detailed information regarding TIRF experiments has been included to aid in future studies regarding the biomaterial delivery to interfaces. The authors have evaluated the effects of (hydroxyethyl)methacrylate (HEMA) homopolymer, 5.89% methyl methacrylate/HEMA, and 5.89% methacrylic acid/HEMA surface chemistry on the spatial localization of AlexaFluor 488-labeled keratinocyte growth factor (AF488-KGF), AF488-KGF surface intensity at the copolymer surface, and release to a glass substrate. KGF is known to promote re-epithelialization in wound healing. The results show that the two copolymers allow for increased surface coverage, surface intensity, and release of AF488-KGF in comparison to the homopolymer. It is likely that differences in these three aspects could have a profound effect on the wound healing response.

The development of hydrogels for protein delivery requires protein–hydrogel interactions that cause minimal disruption of the protein’s biological activity. Biological activity can be influenced by factors such as orientational accessibility for receptor binding and conformational changes, and these factors can be influenced by the hydrogel surface chemistry. (Hydroxyethyl)methacrylate (HEMA) hydrogels are of interest as drug delivery vehicles for keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) which is known to promote re-epithelialization in wound healing. The authors report here the surface characterization of three different HEMA hydrogel copolymers and their effects on the orientation and conformation of surface-bound KGF. In this work, they characterize two copolymers in addition to HEMA alone and report how protein orientation and conformation is affected. The first copolymer incorporates methyl methacrylate (MMA), which is known to promote the adsorption of protein to its surface due to its hydrophobicity. The second copolymer incorporates methacrylic acid (MAA), which is known to promote the diffusion of protein into its surface due to its hydrophilicity. They find that KGF at the surface of the HEMA/MMA copolymer appears to be more orientationally accessible and conformationally active than KGF at the surface of the HEMA/MAA copolymer. They also report that KGF at the surface of the HEMA/MAA copolymer becomes conformationally unfolded, likely due to hydrogen bonding. KGF at the surface of these copolymers can be differentiated by Fourier-transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry in conjunction with principal component analysis. The differences in KGF orientation and conformation between these copolymers may result in different biological responses in future cell-based experiments.