TY - JOUR A1 - Hornberger, Helga A1 - Witte, Frank A1 - Hort, Norbert A1 - Müller, Wolf-Dieter T1 - Effect of fetal calf serum on the corrosion behaviour of magnesium alloys JF - Materials Science and Engineering B N2 - The corrosion behaviour of WE43 magnesium alloys using the mini cell system was studied. Voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy were applied to study on the one hand the effect of microstructure of the working electrode and on the other hand the effect of proteins in the electrolyte. Two types of alloy samples were produced (i) by permanent mould casting and (ii) by gas atomization followed by extrusion. The results showed that the microstructure was strongly influenced by the production process. The extruded samples showed an improved homogeneity of phase distribution compared with cast samples as it was aimed for. Due to increased homogeneity it was expected to find higher corrosion resistance. However, the electrochemical results are contradictory and suggest an additional phase in the extruded microstructure. Using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) the secondary magnesium rare earths (RE) phase of extruded samples showed differing composition than of cast samples as well as additional oxide phases. After the samples were electrochemically investigated in cell medium with and without fetal calf serum (FCS), an impact of FCS was detected in voltammetry due to the length of the polarisation curve. As the tip of the mini cell in contact with the working electrode is small, developing gases tend to spread on the working electrode and break the contact of liquid to the counter electrode; which results in disrupting the current flow. This effect was more pronounced when rising the voltage and was found reduced when using electrolytes with FCS. Impedance spectra were slightly deformed by FCS, seen as a kinetic effect but not as a basic differing corrosion reaction. The insight into the effects of FCS was provided by the mini cell system as this system enables to collect entire series of measurements. In contrast of two single measurements, those series reflected the slight difference caused by FCS. The focus of the electrochemical corrosion study was set on the first half hour of immersion. KW - Magnesium KW - Corrosion KW - Proteins KW - Impedance KW - Reproducibility KW - Polarization Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mseb.2011.07.018 VL - 176 IS - 29 SP - 1746 EP - 1755 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Wolf-Dieter A1 - Hornberger, Helga T1 - The Influence of MgH2 on the Assessment of Electrochemical Data to Predict the Degradation Rate of Mg and Mg Alloys JF - International Journal of Molecular Science N2 - Mg and Mg alloys are becoming more and more of interest for several applications. In the case of biomaterial applications, a special interest exists due to the fact that a predictable degradation should be given. Various investigations were made to characterize and predict the corrosion behavior in vitro and in vivo. Mostly, the simple oxidation of Mg to Mg2+ ions connected with adequate hydrogen development is assumed, and the negative difference effect (NDE) is attributed to various mechanisms and electrochemical results. The aim of this paper is to compare the different views on the corrosion pathway of Mg or Mg alloys and to present a neglected pathway based on thermodynamic data as a guideline for possible reactions combined with experimental observations of a delay of visible hydrogen evolution during cyclic voltammetry. Various reaction pathways are considered and discussed to explain these results, like the stability of the Mg+ intermediate state, the stability of MgH2 and the role of hydrogen overpotential. Finally, the impact of MgH2 formation is shown as an appropriate base for the prediction of the degradation behavior and calculation of the corrosion rate of Mg and Mg alloys. KW - magnesium KW - magnesium alloys KW - magnesium hydride KW - corrosion Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms150711456 VL - 15 SP - 11456 EP - 11472 ER -