Microstructure-corrosion behaviour relationship of micro-alloyed Mg-0.5Zn alloy with the addition of Ca, Sr, Ag, In and Cu
Yiming Jin, Carsten Blawert, Hong Yang, Björn Wiese, Frank Feyerabend, Jan Bohlen, Di Mei, Min Deng, Maria Silva Campos, Nico Scharnagl, Katharina Strecker, Julia Bode, Carla Vogt, Regine Willumeit‐Römer
Abstract
The effects of micro-addition (0.2 wt.%) of Ca, Sr, Ag, In and Cu on the microstructure and corrosion properties of the as-cast Mg-0.5Zn alloy were systematically studied. It is found that the grain refinement efficiency and intermetallics forming ability differed greatly among these elements. Si impurity also played a vital role in the precipitates formation in all systems. It is generally observed that Mg-Zn-Ca possessed the highest corrosion resistance due to the refined grain size, limited intermetallics and uniform corrosion, whereas Mg-Zn-Cu showed the highest corrosion rate due to the coarse grains, intermetallics activity and severe pitting corrosion. With the exception of Mg-Zn-Cu, the corrosion performances of Mg-0.5Zn(-0.2X) alloys were comparable with the higher concentrated systems from literature, indicating the feasibility of these micro-alloying systems for biomedical applications.