Effects of zirconium and nitrogen plasma immersion ion implantation on the electrochemical corrosion behavior of Mg-Y-RE alloy in simulated body fluid and cell culture medium

The effects of dual Zr & N plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) on the corrosion behavior of WE43Mg alloy are evaluated in simulated body fluid (SBF) and cell culture medium (cDMEM). Zr & N PIII improves the corrosion resistance of WE43 which exhibits smaller icorr, larger R1 & R2, smaller CPE2, and larger phase angle maxima in SBF and cDMEM. The Zr & N PIII WE43 samples exhibit 12-folds decrease in icorr in SBF and 71-folds decrease in icorr with near capacitive EIS in cDMEM. Analysis of the corrosion products reveals calcium phosphate.