Corrosion of Biocompatible Mg66+xZn30-xCa4 (x=0.2) Bulk Metallic Glasses

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to investigate the corrosion resistance of Mg66Zn30Ca4 and Mg68Zn28Ca4 metallic glasses and evaluate the ability of this amorphous alloy use for medical applications as biodegradable medical implants. Taking into account the amount of Mg, Zn, Ca elements dissolved in multielectrolyte physiological fluid (MPF) from Mg66+xZn30-xCa4 (x=0.2) alloys the daily dose of evolved ions from alloys components was determined. Additional goal of the paper was determination of corrosion rate (Vcorr) and amount of hydrogen evolved from amorphous magnesium alloys in simulated environment of human body fluids during 24h immersion and during electrochemical tests. Corrosion studies were done in the multielectrolyte physiological fluid (MPF) at 37°C. The amount of hydrogen evolved [ml/cm2] and corrosion rate Vcorr [mm/year] of amorphous Mg66Zn30Ca4 and Mg68Zn28Ca4 alloys were compared. The work also presents characterization of Mg-based bulk metallic glasses structure in the form of 2 mm thickness plates. Samples structure was analyzed by means of X-ray diffraction. Fracture and surface morphology of magnesium alloy samples were identified using scanning electron microscopy.

Keywords

• Mg-based alloys
• bulk metallic glasses
• amorphous structure
• corrosion properties
• biodegradable metallic alloys
• corrosion products