THE PROSPECTS OF MG-ZN-ND SYSTEM AS STRUCTURAL MATERIAL FOR BIODEGRADABLE IMPLANTS

Lilach Elkaiam 1 Orly Hakimi 2 Eli Aghion 1
1Materials Engineering Department, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
2Mechanical Engineering Department, Shamoon College of Engineering, Beer-Sheva, Israel

The growing interest in magnesium base alloys as structural material for biodegradable implants is mainly attributed to the excellent biocompatibility of Mg and its degradation capability in physiological environment. However accelerated corrosion of Mg alloys can cause premature loss of mechanical integrity and formation of excessive amount of hydrogen gas that can lead to the risk of gas embolism. The present study aimed at evaluating the prospects of Mg-5%Zn alloy with up to 3%Nd as a potential implant material. This was carried out in terms of microstructural analysis, mechanical properties testing and in-vitro corrosion performance in simulated physiological environment. The results obtained indicated that the addition of Nd to Mg-5%Zn have significantly improve the specific strength of the alloy with minor effect on the corrosion resistance. In addition it was evident that Nd additions can create two secondary phases at grain boundaries: W-phase (Mg3(Nd,Y)2Zn) and T-phase (Mg4(Nd,Y)Zn2) depending on the Nd content. Relatively, improved mechanical properties and corrosion resistance were obtained when the Nd content was 2% and T-phase was absent.









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