Improving the biocompability and corrosion resistance of AZ31 Mg alloy for biomedical applications

Magnesium (Mg) and its alloys have been extensively researched recently for orthopaedic applications. Much advantages are seen with Mg alloys over economically available titanium and stainless-steel implant. In recent, extensive mechanical characterization have been carried out to increase the biomedical performance of Mg Alloys via surface modification techniques and alloying method. Medical devices such as cardiovascular stents, wound closing devices and bone grafts have been made of magnesium alloy owing to its biodegradable property and unique mechanical properties. However, magnesium alloy corrodes rapidly and also possess low biocompatibility hence its clinical applications are limited due to these drawbacks. In this study, Friction Stir Process (FSP) was employed to produce AZ31 Mg by adding four different particle reinforcements to improve the corrosion resistance and biodegradable of magnesium alloys for biomedical application. Both corrosion resistance and biocompatibility of magnesium alloy may be enhanced with the result obtained in this study, which in turn may lead to more potential applications of Mg in biomedical devices.