Research advances and future perspectives of zinc‐based biomaterials for additive manufacturing

Abstract Additive manufacturing (AM) of zinc‐based biodegradable materials is a hot research topic, especially for bone‐scaffold applications, because of the moderate degradation rate, good biocompatibility, and suitable mechanical properties of these materials. Furthermore, AM enables the fabrication of complex internal structures suitable for implants. Literature on the AM of degradable zinc‐based biomaterials from the Web of Science Core Collection was evaluated in this review. The bibliometric tool CiteSpace was used to analyze historical characteristics, evolving research topics, and emerging trends in this field. Our research results predict that the composition, processing techniques, in vitro biocompatibility, and manufacturing quality of biodegradable AM zinc‐based materials will continue to be hot topics in recent years. To address implant requirements, particularly for bone‐repair materials, the mechanical properties of materials (including the resistance to degradation, creep, and aging), degradation rates, in‐vivo biocompatibility, and specialized processing techniques that affect these properties (such as coating processes, heat treatments, material surface structures, and microstructural compositions) will become hot research topics in the future. We propose future research directions based on an in‐depth analysis of four main topics of AM biodegradable zinc‐based materials (manufacturing quality, material composition, unit configuration, and biocompatibility). The findings provide important guidance for future theoretical research and industrial development of AM zinc‐based biomaterials.