High-performance hot-warm rolled Zn-0.8Li alloy with nano-sized metastable precipitates and sub-micron grains for biodegradable stents

Fabricated through a newly developed hot-warm rolling process,Zn-0.8 Li(wt%)alloy has ideal strength and ductility far beyond the mechanical benchmark of materials for biodegradable stents.Precipitation of needle-like Zn in primary p-LiZn4 phase is observed in Zn-Li alloy for the first time.Orientation relationship between them can be described as[1-213]β//[2-1-10](Zn),(10-10)βabout 4.5°from(0002)(Zn).Zn grains with an average size of 640 nm exhibit strong basal texture,detected by transmission electron back-scatter diffraction.Li distribution is determined by three-dimensional atom probe,which reveals the formation of nano-sized metastableα-Li2Zn3 precipitates with a number density of 7.16×10^22 m^-3.The fine lamellar Zn+β-LiZn4 structure,sub-micron grains and the nano-sized precipitates contribute to the superior mechanical properties.

Fabricated through a newly developed hot-warm rolling process,Zn-0.8 Li（wt%） alloy has ideal strength and ductility far beyond the mechanical benchmark of materials for biodegradable stents.Precipitation of needle-like Zn in primary p-LiZn4 phase is observed in Zn-Li alloy for the first time.Orientation relationship between them can be described as [1-213]β//[2-1-10]Zn,（10-10）β about 4.5° from（0002）Zn.Zn grains with an average size of 640 nm exhibit strong basal texture,detected by transmission electron back-scatter diffraction.Li distribution is determined by three-dimensional atom probe,which reveals the formation of nano-sized metastable α-Li2Zn3 precipitates with a number density of 7.16 x 1022 m-3.The fine lamellar Zn+β-LiZn4 structure,sub-micron grains and the nano-sized precipitates contribute to the superior mechanical properties.