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Biocorrosion and biodegradation behavior of ultralight Mg–4Li–1Ca (LC41) alloy in simulated body fluid for degradable implant applications

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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.

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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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IITB-Monash Research Academy, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India

    S. S. Nene, B. P. Kashyap, N. Prabhu & Y. Estrin

  2. Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India

    S. S. Nene, B. P. Kashyap & N. Prabhu

  3. Department of Materials Engineering, Centre for Advanced Hybrid Materials, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia

    S. S. Nene & Y. Estrin

  4. Laboratory of Hybrid Nanostructured Materials, Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys, Leninsky prosp. 4, Moscow, 119049, Russia

    Y. Estrin

  5. Institut für Metallkunde und Metallphysik, RWTH Aachen University, Kopernikusstr. 14, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    T. Al-Samman

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  1. S. S. Nene
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Correspondence to B. P. Kashyap.

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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

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-015-8846-y

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