Electrochemical evaluation of some Mg-Ca-Mn-Zr biodegradable alloys

Abstract

Biodegradable magnesium alloys represent a class of materials with high properties that are used in a wide range of fields, such as medicine, aeronautics and automotive. Alloying the Mg-based alloys with small percentages of elements such as Ca, Mn and Zr can conduct to the obtaining of some materials that can be the basis for the development of orthopedic implants. Calcium contributes to the formation of the Mg2Ca lamellar compound, low concentrations of zirconium helps the microstructure refinement and corrosion resistance and the alloying with manganese leads to the increase of the mechanical characteristics.In this paper, the electrochemical behaviour of four biodegradable alloys from the Mg-Ca-Mn-Zr system was evaluated, with variable concentrations (0.5% -1%) of Mn, respectively Zr. Alloying the system with 1% of each element (Ca, Mn, Zr) led to the obtaining of the alloy with the highest corrosion resistance and the lowest degradation rate.