3D honeycomb nanostructure-encapsulated magnesium alloys with superior corrosion resistance and mechanical properties. (1st April 2019) - Shuai, Cijun
Abstract: Magnesium (Mg) alloys are promising biodegradable metals for biomedical applications but limited by their too fast degradation rates. In this study, selective laser melting was used to fabricate three-dimensional honeycomb nanostructure-encapsulated Mg alloys, in which the honeycomb nanostructure was constructed by graphene oxide (GO) as a second phase and the grains of Mg alloys were encapsulated in the honeycomb unit. Results showed that GO distributed along the grain boundaries and gradually wrapped ɑ-Mg grains as GO content increasing. It was worth noting that a honeycomb nanostructure was formed with ɑ-Mg grains encapsulated in the honeycomb unit at a certain GO content (1.0 wt% in this study). As a result, the corrosion resistance and mechanical properties were both improved, which might be ascribed to the following mechanisms: (I) ɑ-Mg grains were refined due to the reduced connection and promoted nucleation by GO; (II) Benefiting from the outstanding anti-permeability of GO, the honeycomb nanostructure acted as a tight barrier to restrain the propagation of corrosion; (III) GO reinforced the corrosion layer to prevent it falling off the Mg matrix; (Ⅳ) The oxygen-containing groups on GO facilitated the deposition of bone-like apatite and further hindered the invasion of corrosive medium. These findings demonstrated the multiple defensive roles against corrosion in the honeycomb nanostructure-encapsulated Mg alloys and their great potential in biomedical applications.