Degradation susceptibility of surgical magnesium alloy in artificial biological fluid containing albumin

The objective of this study is to investigate the corrosion susceptibility of surgical AZ91 magnesium alloys in simulated body fluids (SBFs) consisting of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and acidic SBFs (pH 5) using electrochemical methods. The addition of BSA significantly moves the open-circuit potential toward a more positive value and suppresses the corrosion reaction. The corrosion resistance under the open-circuit conditions in the SBFs with 1 g/L BSA is approximately twice that in the SBFs. A higher BSA concentration decreases the corrosion susceptibility. In addition, the acidic SBF results in a higher alloy dissolution rate. The possible mechanisms are discussed. © 2007 Materials Research Society.