Enhanced biodegradation behavior of ultrafine-grained ZE41A magnesium alloy in Hank's solution

The biodegradation behavior of an ultrafine-grained (UFG) magnesium alloy ZE41A containing rare-earth (RE), obtained through multi-pass of equal channel angular pressing(EACP), was investigated by electrochemical measurements in Hank's solution. The highest value of charge transfer resistance was obtained in the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy plots of the ECAPed samples with the largest pressing pass, while a movement of corrosion potential toward noble direction and a decrement of corrosion current density were observed in the potentiodynamic polarization curves of the ECAPed samples with further pressing passes. These results indicated that ECAP could be an efficient way to reduce the biodegradation rate of the ZE41A alloy.