Study of Self-Assembled Monolayers of Stearic Acid on Pure Magnesium Surface

Abstract

In this paper, self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of stearic acid (SA) surface treatment on pure magnesium were studied to improve bioactivity and corrosion resistance of pure Mg. Three pre-treatment methods (HCl-NaOH treatment, alkali-heat treatment and heat treatment) were used. SAMs treated samples were soaked in simulated body fluid (SBF) and untreated samples were taken as control. The pH variation of SBF solution was examined everyday. The electrochemical property of treated and untreated samples was tested to evaluate the anticorrosion performance of organic surface layer. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis were performed to observe the surface appearance and to identify the composition and phases of samples. The results showed that stearic acid SAMs had successfully been assembled on the surface of the samples, which had a good effect on corrosion resistance of materials and decreased the electric current density of SAM-sample 1% to that untreated sample; SAM inhibited the form of Mg(OH)2 and had a good influence on bioactivities of pure magnesium.