Enhanced initial biodegradation resistance of the biomedical Mg-Cu alloy by surface nanomodification

Mg-Cu alloys are promising antibacterial implant materials.However,their clinical applications have been impeded by their high initial biodegradation rate,which can be alleviated using nanotechnology by for example surface nanomodification to obtain a gradient nanostructured surface layer.The present work(i)produced a gradient nanostructured surface layer with a∼500µm thickness on a Mg-0.2 Cu alloy by a surface mechanical grinding treatment(SMGT),and(ii)studied the biodegradation behavior in Hank's solution.The initial biodegradation rate of the SMGTed samples was significantly lower than that of the unSMGTed original counterparts,which was attributed to the surface nanocrystallization,and the fragmentation and re-dissolution of Mg_(2)Cu particles in the surface of the SMGTed Mg-0.2 Cu alloy.Furthermore,the SMGTed Mg-0.2 Cu alloy had good antibacterial efficacy.This work creatively used SMGT technology to produce a high-performance Mg alloy implant material.

Deformation and fracture behavior of commercially pure titanium with gradient nano-to-micron-grained surface layer

Titanium with gradient nano-to-micron scale grains from surface to matrix was fabricated by surface mechanical grinding treatment(SMGT) at room temperature.The SMGT-treated titanium shows higher strength than that of as-received one,but moderate ductility between those of ultra-fine grained(UFG) and coarse-grained titanium.Tensile stress-strain curves of SMGT-treated titanium show double strain hardening regimes.The strain hardening rate(dσ/dε) decreases with increasing strain in tensile deformation.The high strain hardening rate at initial yielding is attributed to nano-to-micron-grained surface layer.The low strain hardening rate at large plastic strain regime primarily results from coarse-grained matrix.The SMGT-treated titanium shows a ductile fracture mode with a large number of dimples.The small size of dimples in the treated surface layer is due to the combination of the high strength and strain hardening exponent.The difference between dimple size in nano-to-micron-grained surface layer and coarse-grained matrix is discussed in terms of plastic zone size at the tip of crack in the SMGT-treated titanium.

Formation mechanism and wear behavior of gradient nanostructured Inconel 625 alloy

The formation mechanism and wear behavior of a gradient nanostructured(GNS) Inconel 625 alloy were investigated using SEM, TEM and ball-on-disc sliding wear tester. The results show that surface mechanical grinding treatment(SMGT) induced an approximately 800 μm-deep gradient microstructure, consisting of surface nano-grained,nano-laminated, nano-twined, and severely deformed layers, which resulted in a reduced gradient in micro-hardness from 6.95 GPa(topmost surface) to 2.77 GPa(coarse-grained matrix). The nano-grained layer resulted from the formation of high-density nano-twins and subsequent interaction between nano-twins and dislocations. The width and depth of the wear scar, wear loss volume, and wear rate of the SMGT-treated sample were smaller than those of untreated coarse-grained sample. Moreover, the wear mechanisms for both samples were mainly abrasive wear and adhesive wear, accompanied with mild oxidation wear. The notable wear resistance enhancement of the GNS Inconel 625 alloy was attributed to the high micro-hardness, high residual compressive stress, and high strain capacity of the GNS surface layer.