Zinc Alloys for Biodegradable Medical Implants

Abstract:

Both magnesium and zinc are considered as suitable elements for preparation of biodegradable materials that can be gradually dissolved in human organism without the production of toxic compounds. Although many magnesium-based materials possess good mechanical properties and biocompatibility, corrosion rates accompanied by hydrogen release and pH increase are too high. On the contrary, Zn is characterized by much lower corrosion rate in physiological solution compared to magnesium and its alloys. Therefore, we study Zn-Mg binary alloys with 0-7 wt.% of Mg. In this case, magnesium was selected to improve mechanical properties and biocompatibility of pure Zn. The structures of alloys were studied by an optical metallographic microscope and SEM equipped with EDS analyzer. Mechanical properties were studied using Vickers hardness measurements. Our results showed that mechanical properties of binary Mg-Zn alloys improve with increasing content of Mg, achieving the maximum at eutectic composition. Higher Mg concentrations strongly deteriorate mechanical properties of binary Mg-Zn alloys.

• Periodical: Materials Science Forum (Volume 782)
• Pages: 457-460
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.782.457
• Online since: April 2014
• Authors: Iva Pospíšilová, Dalibor Vojtěch
• Keywords: Biodegradable Material, Microstructure, Zinc

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