Microstructures, mechanical and corrosion properties and biocompatibility of as extruded Mg–Mn–Zn–Nd alloys for biomedical applications

• Extruded Mg–1Mn–2Zn–xNd alloys exhibit very fine microstructures.
• Extrusion greatly improves the tensile property and corrosion behavior of alloys.
• Tensile strength and ductility of the extruded alloys increase with Nd content.
• Increase of Nd does not significantly alter the corrosion resistance.
• Mg–1Mn–2Zn–1Nd alloy shows a great potential for biomedical applications.

Extruded Mg–1Mn–2Zn–xNd alloys (x = 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 mass %) have been developed for their potential use as biomaterials. The extrusion on the alloys was performed at temperature of 623 K with an extrusion ratio of 14.7 under an average extrusion speed of 4 mm/s. The microstructure, mechanical property, corrosion behavior and biocompatibility of the extruded Mg–Mn–Zn–Nd alloys have been investigated in this study. The microstructure was examined using X-ray diffraction analysis and optical microscopy. The mechanical properties were determined from uniaxial tensile and compressive tests. The corrosion behavior was investigated using electrochemical measurement. The biocompatibility was evaluated using osteoblast-like SaOS2 cells. The experimental results indicate that all extruded Mg–1Mn–2Zn–xNd alloys are composed of both α phase of Mg and a compound of Mg7Zn3 with very fine microstructures, and show good ductility and much higher mechanical strength than that of cast pure Mg and natural bone. The tensile strength and elongation of the extruded alloys increase with an increase in neodymium content. Their compressive strength does not change significantly with an increase in neodymium content. The extruded alloys show good biocompatibility and much higher corrosion resistance than that of cast pure Mg. The extruded Mg–1Mn–2Zn–1.0Nd alloy shows a great potential for biomedical applications due to the combination of enhanced mechanical properties, high corrosion resistance and good biocompatibility.