Abstract
Biocorrosion and biodegradation behavior of Mg–4Li–1Ca alloy were investigated for industrially important end product conditions, namely the homogenized, rolled, and rolled + annealed ones. Among the three, homogenized material showed the highest corrosion rate (27.2 mm/year) in a simulated body fluid (SBF) owing to its coarse grain structure containing long dumbbell-shaped eutectic phase. Rolled + annealed material exhibited the lowest corrosion rate (0.94 mm/year) corresponding to the highest corrosion resistance (1.854 kΩ cm2) in SBF. This higher corrosion resistance is associated with a uniform distribution of corrosion sites and a lower occurrence of twins in the microstructure. However, the rolled material showed a greater corrosion rate due to an appreciable volume fraction of {10\( \bar{1} \)1} compression twins, {10\( \bar{1} \)2} tension twins, and {10\( \bar{1} \)1}–{10\( \bar{1} \)2} double twins, which form galvanic couples with the adjacent grains that enhances localized corrosion. A mechanism of biodegradation at the alloy/SBF interface is proposed. It involves the formation of bone-like hydroxyapatite and metastable octa calcium phosphate, along with other degradation products, such as magnesium hydroxide and lithium hydroxide.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Song GS, Kral MV (2005) Characterization of cast Mg–Li–Ca alloys. Mater Charact 54:279–286
Salahshoor M, Guo Y (2012) Biodegradable orthopedic magnesium-calcium (Mg-Ca) alloys, processing, and corrosion performance. Materials 5:136–155
Li Z, Gu X, Lou S, Zheng Y (2008) The development of binary Mg-Ca alloys for use as biodegradable materials within bone. Biomaterials 29:1329–1344
Timmer RT, Sands JM (1999) Lithium intoxication. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 10:666–674
Al-Samman T (2009) Comparative study of the deformation behavior of hexagonal magnesium–lithium alloys and a conventional Mg AZ31 alloy. Acta Mater 57:2229–2242
Sankaranarayanan S, Jayalakshmi S, Gupta M (2012) Effect of individual and combined addition of micro/nano-sized metallic elements on the microstructure and mechanical properties of pure Mg. Mater Des 37:274–284
Sahoo M, Atkinson JTN (1982) Mg–Li alloys: constitution and fabrication for use in batteries. J Mater Sci 17:3564–3574. doi:10.1007/BF00752200
Kirkland NT, Birbilis N, Walker J, Woodfield T, Dias GJ, Staiger MP (2010) In-vitro dissolution of magnesium–calcium binary alloys: clarifying the unique role of calcium additions in bioresorbable magnesium implant alloys. J Biomed Mater Res Part B 95:91–100
Sun Y, Zhang B, Wang Y, Geng L, Jiao X (2012) Preparation and characterization of a new biomedical Mg–Zn–Ca alloy. Mater Des 34:58–64
Virtanen S (2011) Biodegradable Mg and Mg alloys: corrosion and biocompatibility. Mater. Sci. Eng B. 176:1600–1608
Brar HS, Ball JP, Berglund IS, Allen JB, Manuel MV (2013) A Study of biodegradable Mg-3Sc-3Y alloy and the effect of self passivation on in vitro degradation. Acta Biomater 9:5331–5340
Chou DT, Hong D, Saha P, Ferrero J, Lee B, Tan Z, Dong Z, Kumta P (2013) In vitro and in vivo corrosion, cytocompatibility and mechanical properties of biodegradable Mg-Y-Ca-Zr alloys as implant materials. Acta Biomater 9:8518–8533
Seong JW, Kim WJ (2014) Development of biodegradable Mg-Ca alloy with enhanced strength and corrosion properties through the refinement and uniform distribution of Mg2Ca phase by high ratio differential speed rolling. Acta Biomater 11:531–542. doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2014.09.029
Nene SS, Kashyap BP, Prabhu N, Estrin Y, Al-Samman T (2014) Microstructure refinement and its effect on specific strength and bio-corrosion resistance in ultralight Mg-4Li-1Ca (LC41) alloy by hot rolling. J. Alloys Compd. 615:501–506
Nene SS, Kashyap BP, Prabhu N, Estrin Y, Al-Samman T (2014) Effect of rolling on microstructure and room temperature tensile properties of newly developed Mg-4Li-1Ca alloy. Adv Mater Res 922:537–542
C.op’t Hoog N, Birbilis Y Estrin (2008) Corrosion of pure Mg as a function of grain size and processing route. Adv Eng Mater 10:579–582
Kirkland NT, Birbilis N, Staiger MP (2012) Assessing the corrosion of biodegradable magnesium implants: a critical review of current methodologies and their limitations. Acta Biomater 8:925–936
Zhou WR, Zheng YF, Leeflang MA, Zhou J (2013) Mechanical property, biocorrosion and in vitro biocompatibility evaluations of Mg-Li-(Al)-(RE) alloys for future cardiovascular stent application. Acta Biomater 9:8488–8498
Leeflang MA, Dzwonczyk JS, Zhou J, Duszczyk J (2011) Long term degradation and associated hydrogen evolution of duplex structured Mg-Li-(Al)-(RE) alloys and their mechanical properties. Mater. Sci. Eng B. 176:1741–1745
Rad HRB, Idris MH, Kadir MRA, Ourdjini A, Medraj M, Daroonparvar M, Hamzah E (2014) Mechanical and biocorrosion properties of quaternary Mg-Ca-Mn-Zn alloy compared with binary Mg-Ca alloys. Mater Des 53:283–292
Rad HRB, Idris MH, Kadir MRA, Farhany S (2013) Microstructure analysis and corrosion behavior of Mg-Ca implant alloys. Mater Des 33:88–97
Zou G, Peng Q, Wang Y, Liu B (2015) The effect of extension twinning on the electrochemical corrosion properties of Mg-Y alloys. J Alloy Compd 618:44–48
Wang BJ, Xu DK, Dong JH, Ke W (2014) Effect of crystallographic orientation and twinning on the corrosion resistance of an as-extruded Mg-3Al-1Zn (wt%) bar. Scr Mater 88:5–8
Jeong YS, Kim WJ (2014) Enhancement of mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of Mg-Ca alloys through microstructure refinement by indirect extrusion. Corr. Sci. 82:392–403
Fan J, Qiu X, Niu X, Tian Z, Sun W, Liu X, Li Y, Li W, Meng J (2013) Microstructure, mechanical properties, in vitro degradation and cytotoxicity evaluation of Mg-1.5Y-1.2Zn-0.44Zr alloys for biomedical metallic implants. Mater. Sci. Eng C. 33:2345–2352
Peng Q, Li X, Ma N, Liu R, Zhang H (2012) Effects of backward extrusion on mechanical and degradation properties of Mg-Zn biomaterial. J. Mech. Behav. Biomed. 10:128–137
Zeng RC, Sun L, Zheng YF, Cui HZ, Han EH (2014) Corrosion and characterization of dual phase Mg-Li-Ca alloy in Hank’s solution: influence of microstructural features. Corr. Sci. 79:69–82
Gu XN, Xie XH, Li N, Zheng YF, Qin L (2012) In vitro and in vivo studies on Mg-Sr binary alloy system developed as a new kind of biodegradable metal. Acta Biomater 8:2360–2374
Song G (2007) Control of biodegradation of biocompatible Mg alloys. Corros Sci 49:1696–1701
Song Y, Shan D, Chen R, Han EH (2009) Corrosion characterization of Mg–8Li alloy in NaCl solution. Corros Sci 51:1087–1094
Lu X, Leng Y (2005) Theoretical analysis of calcium phosphate precipitation in simulated body fluid. Biomaterials 26:1097–1108
Witte F (2010) The history of biodegradable magnesium implants: a review. Acta Biomater 6:1680–1692
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to Department of Science and Technology, India, for funding under FIST program SR/FST/ETII–054/2000 for purchase of Universal Testing Machine (UTM). YE would like to acknowledge funding support through Grant #14.A12.31.0001 of the Russian Ministry for Education and Science. The authors would also like to thank Prof. Smrutiranjan Parida for his advice and support with corrosion studies. Expert support in the casting of the alloy studied provided by Mr. Arndt Ziemons is gratefully appreciated.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nene, S.S., Kashyap, B.P., Prabhu, N. et al. Biocorrosion and biodegradation behavior of ultralight Mg–4Li–1Ca (LC41) alloy in simulated body fluid for degradable implant applications. J Mater Sci 50, 3041–3050 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-015-8846-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-015-8846-y