The effect of solid solution treatment with coating on corrosion properties of AZ91 Mg alloy in simulated body fluid

Abstract

The current study involves an attempt to reduce the corrosion rate of AZ91 Mg alloy that is used in biomedical applications, where it is known as biodegradable material and needs to increase its lifetime until healing can occur. Firstly, solid solution treatment at 450 °C for 8 hr. was worked to reduce the second phase represented by Mg17Al12 and then reduce the galvanic cells on the alloy’s surface. Secondly, coating with indium and titanium metals was done by DC sputtering. The characterization of treated and treated/coated specimens was accomplished by XRD, SEM/EDS, and AFM confirming the improvement of solid solution treated/In coated alloy surface compared with the treated uncoated and solid solution treated/Ti coated alloy. Corrosion properties were investigated by potentiostatic measurement indicating that the solid solution treated/In coated alloy gave lower corrosion current density (i.e., lower corrosion rate), protection efficiency equal to 38.31%, polarization resistance increased from 33.482 × 102 to 36.876 × 102 Ω.cm2 and lower porosity compared with coated specimen by Ti. The reason for this improvement comes from the full coverage of the surface by a compact regular layer of indium as well as the formation of the Mg3In phase. The porosity percentage PP% showed the high porosity for treated/Ti coated specimen which reached to 2104.1%.