A systematic study of mechanical properties, corrosion behavior and biocompatibility of AZ31B Mg alloy after ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification

Xiaoning Hou; Haifeng Qin; Hongyu Gao; Steven Mankoci; Ruixia Zhang; Xianfeng Zhou; Zhencheng Ren; Gary L Doll; Ashlie Martini; Nita Sahai; Yalin Dong; Chang Ye

doi:10.1016/j.msec.2017.04.128

A systematic study of mechanical properties, corrosion behavior and biocompatibility of AZ31B Mg alloy after ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification

Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2017 Sep 1:78:1061-1071. doi: 10.1016/j.msec.2017.04.128. Epub 2017 Apr 23.

Authors

Xiaoning Hou¹, Haifeng Qin², Hongyu Gao³, Steven Mankoci⁴, Ruixia Zhang¹, Xianfeng Zhou⁵, Zhencheng Ren¹, Gary L Doll², Ashlie Martini³, Nita Sahai⁶, Yalin Dong¹, Chang Ye⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA.
² Timken Engineered Surfaces Laboratories, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California - Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA.
⁴ Department of Polymer Science, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA.
⁵ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA; Department of Polymer Science, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA; School of Polymer Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Engineering, Qingdao 266042, China. Electronic address: xianfeng@qust.edu.cn.
⁶ Department of Polymer Science, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA; Department of Geosciences, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA; Integrated Bioscience Program, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA.
⁷ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA. Electronic address: cye@uakron.edu.

PMID: 28575941
DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2017.04.128

Abstract

Magnesium alloys have tremendous potential for biomedical applications due to their good biocompatibility, osteoconductivity, and degradability, but can be limited by their poor mechanical properties and fast corrosion in the physiological environment. In this study, ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (UNSM), a recently developed surface processing technique that utilizes ultrasonic impacts to induce plastic strain on metal surfaces, was applied to an AZ31B magnesium (Mg) alloy. The mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility of the alloy after UNSM treatment were studied systematically. Significant improvement in hardness, yield stress and wear resistance was achieved after the UNSM treatment. In addition, the corrosion behavior of UNSM-treated AZ31B was not compromised compared with the untreated samples, as demonstrated by the weight loss and released element concentrations of Mg and Al after immersion in alpha-minimum essential medium (α-MEM) for 24h. The in vitro biocompatibility of the AZ31B Mg alloys toward adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) before and after UNSM processing was also evaluated using a cell culture study. Comparable cell attachments were achieved between the two groups. These studies showed that UNSM could significantly improve the mechanical properties of Mg alloys without compromising their corrosion rate and biocompatibility in vitro. These findings suggest that UNSM is a promising method to treat biodegradable Mg alloys for orthopaedic applications.

Keywords: Cell compatibility; Corrosion; Magnesium alloy; Surface severe plastic deformation; Ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (UNSM); Wear resistance.

MeSH terms

Alloys
Biocompatible Materials
Corrosion
Magnesium
Materials Testing
Metal Nanoparticles*
Surface Properties
Ultrasonics

Substances

Alloys
Biocompatible Materials
Magnesium