Biocompatible Magnesium Alloy ZNdK100—Adaptation of Extrusion Parameters to Tailor the Mechanical Properties to Different Implant Applications

Abstract

Neodymium containing magnesium alloys like MgNd2 and ZNdK100 offer high corrosion resistance and biocompatibility due to low amounts of alloying elements, and are thus attractive for biomedical applications. Compared with common bioresorbable magnesium alloys, which frequently contain mischmetal, the use of neodymium as a single rare earth element provides for good reproducibility of the degradation behavior while improving the ductility, leading to high fracture strains of 25–30%. Thus, stents made from these alloys allowed dilatation without failure. The MgNd2 alloy’s strength, however, turned out to be low. Recent investigations proved that the strength of a ZNdK100 alloy can be significantly increased by an adaptation of the extrusion parameters, such as billet temperature and extrusion ratio, which govern recrystallization of the microstructure. In the current study, it is demonstrated how the mechanical properties can be adjusted by the extrusion process, allowing the future use of the same alloy for both bone implants and soft tissue implants.