Electrochemical Corrosion and In vitro Biocompatibility Performance of AZ31Mg/Al2O3 Nanocomposite in Simulated Body Fluid

Abstract

In this present investigation, AZ31 alloy nanocomposite was prepared with the inclusion of Al2O3 nanoparticles using innovative disintegrated melt deposition (DMD) process followed by hot extrusion to improve the corrosion resistance and in vitro biocompatibility in simulated body fluid (SBF). This investigation systematically inspected the degradation performances of AZ31 alloy with Al2O3 nanoparticles through hydrogen evolution, weight loss and electrochemical methods in SBF. Further, the surface microstructure with the in vitro mineralization of the alloys in SBF was characterized by XRD, XPS, and SEM/EDS analysis. It was seen that the addition of Al2O3 nanoparticles significantly decreased the weight loss of AZ31 alloy substrates after 336 h of exposure in SBF. The corrosion resistance of the monolithic and nanocomposite samples was evaluated using potentiodynamic polarization tests, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements in short- and long-term periods. Accordingly, the electrochemical analysis in SBF showed that the corrosion resistance performance of the AZ31 alloy enhanced considerably due to the incorporation of Al2O3 nanoparticles as reinforcement. Moreover, the rapid formation of bone-like apatite layer on the surface of the nanocomposite substrate demonstrated a good bioactivity of the nanocomposite samples in SBF.