Preliminary study of biodegradation of AZ31B magnesium alloy

Magnesium alloys are potential to be developed as a new type of biodegradable implant material by use of their active corrosion behavior. Both in vitro and in vivo biodegradation properties of an AZ31B magnesium alloy were investigated in this work. The results showed that AZ31B alloy has a proper degradation rate and much lower hydrogen release in Hank’s solution, with a degradation rate of about 0.3 mm/year and hydrogen release below 0.15 mL/cm². The animal implantation test showed that the AZ31B alloy could slowly biodegrade in femur of the rabbit and form calcium phosphate around the alloy sample, with the Ca/P ratio close to the natural bone.