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Microstructure, Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Behavior of Porous Mg-6 wt.% Zn Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

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Abstract

Porous Mg-based scaffolds have been extensively researched as biodegradable implants due to their attractive biological and excellent mechanical properties. In this study, porous Mg-6 wt.% Zn scaffolds were prepared by powder metallurgy using ammonium bicarbonate particles as space-holder particles. The effects of space-holder particle content on the microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the Mg-6 wt.% Zn scaffolds were studied. The mean porosity and pore size of the open-cellular scaffolds were within the range 6.7-52.2% and 32.3-384.2 µm, respectively. Slight oxidation was observed at the grain boundaries and on the pore walls. The Mg-6 wt.% Zn scaffolds were shown to possess mechanical properties comparable with those of natural bone and had variable in vitro degradation rates. Increased content of space-holder particles negatively affected the mechanical behavior and corrosion resistance of the Mg-6 wt.% Zn scaffolds, especially when higher than 20%. These results suggest that porous Mg-6 wt.% Zn scaffolds are promising materials for application in bone tissue engineering.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support of the 2015 ShanDong province project of outstanding subject talent group, the project (81472058) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the project (A2016003) supported by the Health and Family Planning Commission of Hunan Province and the project (2017GK2120) supported by the Key Research and Development Program of Hunan Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, China

    Yang Yan, Kun Yu, Dayue Jiang & Yu Zhang

  2. The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China

    Yijun Kang, Ding Li, Tao Xiao, Qiyuan Wang & Youwen Deng

  3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Yantai Nanshan University, Yantai, China

    Kun Yu & Hongjie Fang

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  1. Yang Yan
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  2. Yijun Kang
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  3. Ding Li
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  4. Kun Yu
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Correspondence to Kun Yu.

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Yan, Y., Kang, Y., Li, D. et al. Microstructure, Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Behavior of Porous Mg-6 wt.% Zn Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 27, 970–984 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-018-3189-x

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