Y. Al-abdullat et al., Surface modification of magnesium by NaHCO3 and corrosion behavior in Hank's solution for new biomaterial applications, MATER TRANS, 42(8), 2001, pp. 1777-1780
The present study was carried out to improve the corrosion resistance of pu
re magnesium in Hank's Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS) through the surface mo
dification. Three kinds of alkaline compounds, such as sodium hydrogen carb
onate, sodium carbonate, and lithium hydroxide, were used for treatment. On
ly magnesium treated with aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate solution gave a
good corrosion resistance in HBSS solution at 25 degreesC up to 75 days, w
hile almost no effect in sodium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. It was lik
ely that hydrogen carbonate ions were essential for the surface improvement
of magnesium. X-ray diffraction patterns of modified magnesium showed now
peaks of magnesium carbonate and others on the surface. New surface structu
re of needle-shaped crystals was observed by scanning electron microscopy (
SEM). Both elemental mapping, and energy dispersive (EDX) techniques in SEM
showed the precipitation of calcium magnesium phosphate (low crystallinity
whitlockite:(Ca,Mg)(3)(PO4)(2)) on the surface of magnesium specimen. It c
ould be concluded that surface modification with sodium hydrogen carbonate
made it possible to apply metal magnesium in biomedical, dental, and other
industrial usage.