Donghui Yang

Improving in-vitro biocorrosion resistance of Mg-Zn-Mn-Ca alloy in Hank's solution through addition of cerium

Abstract Two kinds of Mg-Zn-Mn-Ca alloys with and without cerium were designed and fabricated. In-vitro degradation tests and electrochemical evaluations were carried out to compare their biocorrosion behavior in Hanks solution at 37 °C. After adding cerium, the continuous network distributed Ca 2 Mg 6 Zn 3 phases in Mg-2Zn-0.5Mn-1Ca alloy (Alloy I) were separated due to the emerging non-continuously distributed Mg 2 Ca phase and Mg 12 CeZn phase. This change led to corrosion acceleration of Mg matrix at the initial stage but also sped up the formation of compact corrosion products for Mg-2Zn-0.5Mn-1Ca-1.5Ce alloy (Alloy II), and therefore enhanced its biocorrosion resistance. Cerium containing Alloy II has the potential to be used as future biomaterials.