Improvement in corrosion resistance and biocompatibility of AZ31 magnesium alloy by NH+2 ions

TL;DR

This study enhances AZ31 magnesium alloy's corrosion resistance and biocompatibility for biomedical use by implanting NH+2 ions, resulting in improved surface properties without compromising mechanical strength.

Contribution

It introduces a novel ion implantation method with NH+2 ions to improve AZ31 magnesium alloy's surface characteristics for biomedical applications.

Findings

Surface smoothness and hydrophobicity increased

Corrosion resistance significantly improved

Mechanical properties maintained

Abstract

Magnesium alloys have been considered to be favorable biodegradable metallic materials used in orthopedic and cardiovascular applications. We introduce NH+2 to the AZ31 Mg alloy surface by ion implantation at the energy of 50 KeV with doses ranging from 1e16 ions/cm2 to 1e17 ions/cm2 to improve its corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. Surface morphology, mechanical properties, corrosion behavior and biocompatibility are studied in the experiments. The analysis confirms that the modified surface with smoothness and hydrophobicity significantly improves the corrosion resistance and biocompatibility while maintaining the mechanical property of the alloy.