Surface characteristics and corrosion resistance of biodegradable magnesium alloy ZK60 modified by Fe ion implantation and deposition

Abstract

The ZK60 magnesium alloy has been modified by Fe ion implantation and deposition with a metal vapor vacuum arc plasma source. The surface morphology, phase constituent and elemental distribution are determined by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometer and Auger electron spectroscopy. The results show that Fe thin film is deposited on ZK60 alloy and the corresponding thickness increases from 2.73 μm to 6.36 μm with increasing deposition time. A transition layer mainly composed of Mg, Fe and O elements is formed between Fe thin film and ZK60 substrate. The potentiodynamic polarization tests reveal that a high corrosion potential and a low corrosion current density are detected for the Fe deposited ZK60 alloy, indicating the improvement of corrosion resistance. The tensile deformation test indicates that the Fe deposited film on the ZK60 substrate can sustain 1% tensile strain without any cracks.

Corrosion Behavior of Fe/Zr Composite Coating on ZK60 Mg Alloy by Ion Implantation and Deposition

“…The Mg content shows an opposite trend compared with that of Fe. Similar elemental distribution can also be found in reference [33], where a continuous and smooth transition of Fe and Mg elements is formed across the Figure 2a that a relatively smooth surface can be found for the ZK60 sample and there are some parallel grooves and metallic scrapings caused by mechanical grinding. For the Fe-Zr-ZK60 sample, as shown in Figure 2b, lots of island-like protuberances are filled on the surface and these protuberances connect with each other to generate a rough and dense microstructure.…”

“…The Mg content shows an opposite trend compared with that of Fe. Similar elemental distribution can also be found in reference [33], where a continuous and smooth transition of Fe and Mg elements is formed across the intermediate layer of Fe II&D modified Mg alloy. It is concluded from Figures 1 and 3 that a bi-layer Fe/Zr composite coating with outer Fe-modified layer and inner Zr-modified layer is generated by duplex Fe/Zr II&D, and the phase constitution of the coating is mainly composed of α-Fe phase and some metallic oxides.…”

“…The Mg content shows an opposite trend compared with that of Fe. Similar elemental distribution can also be found in reference [33], where a continuous and smooth transition of Fe and Mg elements is formed across the The cross-sectional BSE micrograph and corresponding EDX line-scan result of Fe-Zr-ZK60 sample are displayed in Figure 3. It is seen in Figure 3a that a uniform Fe/Zr composite coating with a thickness of 8.4 µm is deposited on the surface of ZK60 sample.…”

The current trends of Mg alloys in biomedical applications—A review

“…There are some limitations of this technique including high processing cost and its complications to treat the surfaces of intricate geometries . The effectiveness of this technique in enhancing the corrosion resistance of Mg alloys has been widely studied . Wu et al studied the cerium ion implantation on the surface of pure Mg and witnessed an improvement in the corrosion resistance of treated samples in three biological mediums including artificial hand sweat, Ringer's solution, and cDMEM solution.…”

Ion Implantation of Calcium and Zinc in Magnesium for Biodegradable Implant Applications

“…Elements such as zirconium, iron and aluminium have been ion implanted in magnesium and magnesium-based alloys, and their in vitro degradation behaviour has been studied [15][16][17][18][19]. Zhao et al [15] studied the in vitro degradation and biocompatibility of zirconium-ion and oxygen-ion implantation in Mg-Ca and Mg-Sr alloys.…”