Electrochemical characteristics of bioresorbable binary MgCa alloys in Ringer's solution: Revealing the impact of local pH distributions during in-vitro dissolution.

Biodegradable magnesium-calcium (MgCa) alloy is a very attractive biomaterial. Two MgCa alloys below the solid solubility of Ca were considered, as to solely investigate the effect of Ca content on the behavior of magnesium and the pH changes associated to metal dissolution. X-ray diffraction analysis and optical microscopy showed that both Mg-0.63Ca and Mg-0.89Ca alloys were solely composed of α(Mg) phase. Degradation characteristics and electrochemical characterization of MgCa alloys were investigated during exposure to Ringer's solution at 37 °C by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and scanning electrochemical microscopy. The impedance behavior showed both capacitive and inductive features that are related to the alloy charge transfer reaction and the relaxation of the absorbed corrosion compounds, and can be described in terms of an equivalent circuit. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to view the surface morphology of the MgCa samples after 1 week immersion in Ringer's solution showing extensive precipitation of corrosion products, whereas the substrate shows evidence of a non-uniform corrosion process. Energy dispersive analysis showed that the precipitates contained oxygen, calcium, magnesium and chlorine, and the Mg:Ca ratios were smaller than in the alloys. Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) was used to visualize local pH changes associated to these physicochemical processes with high spatial resolution. The occurrence of pH variations in excess of 3 units between anodic and cathodic half-cell reactions was monitored in situ.

The electrochemical behaviour of various non-precious Ni and Co based alloys in artificial saliva.

Five non-precious Ni-Co based alloys were analyzed with respect to their corrosion behaviour. The correlation between the amount of the elements Cr, Mo, V and the corrosion behaviour, expressed by the PREN (pitting resistance equivalent number) index in the case of the allied steels, was extended for Ni-Cr and Co-Cr dental alloys characterization. Open circuit potential, corrosion current densities, as a measure of the corrosion rate, and main parameters of the corrosion process were evaluated from linear and cyclic polarization curves, for five Ni-Cr or Co-Cr alloys in an Afnor type artificial saliva. The maintenance times of the alloy in the corrosive medium influence the corrosion rate; the corrosion current values decrease with the maintenance time due to their passivation in solution. The microscopic analysis of the alloy surfaces shows that this passivation in solution does not modify the corrosion type. The alloys with PREN