Characterization and corrosion behavior of biodegradable Mg-Ca and Mg-Ca-Zn implant alloys

Abstract

In the present study binary Mg-xCa (x=0.5 and 1.25wt.%) and ternary Mg-1Ca-xZn (x=0.5 and 1.5wt.%) alloys are produced by casting the molten metal in a metal die at a temperature of 740°C. The microstructure analysis of the Mg-Ca and Mg-Ca-Zn alloys were studied by OM, SEM and EDX. The corrosion behavior of alloys was evaluated via potentiodynamic polarization test in Kokubo solution. The result exhibited that the grain size decrease with rising Ca content in Mg-Ca alloys and degree of grain size reduction further decreased by adding Zn to Mg-1Ca-Zn alloys. The microstructure of Mg-Ca alloys were constituted of primary Mg and lamellar eutectic (α-Mg+Mg2Ca) phase, Whilst Mg–1Ca-Zn alloys were composed of primary Mg and eutectic (α-Mg+Mg2Ca+Ca2Mg6Zn3) phases. In addition with increasing Ca and Zn the amount of Mg2Ca and Ca2Mg6Zn3 increased respectively in grain boundaries. Electrochemical test shows that the addition of Zn leads to improve corrosion resistance of the Mg–1Ca-Zn alloys as a result of the formation of Ca2Mg6Zn3 phase, whilst the addition of more than 0.5 wt% Ca to Mg-Ca alloys result in decrease corrosion resistance due to the formation Mg2Ca.