Mechanical properties, biodegradation behavior and biocompatibility of novel Zn-based alloy membranes prepared by powder metallurgy for guided bone regeneration

Pure zinc is inappropriate for guided bone regeneration (GBR) membranes due to its low mechanical properties. Herein, Zn-based alloy GBR membranes were prepared by powder metallurgy method to yield Zn-0.5Fe-0.05Mg and Zn-0.5Mg-0.05Fe alloy GBR membranes. The testing of mechanical properties showed tensile strengths of Pure Zn and Zn-0.5Fe-0.05Mg and Zn-0.5Mg-0.05Fe alloy GBR membranes reaching 88.9 MPa 331.2 MPa and 352.2 MPa, along with elongations of 9.8 % and 25.8 % and 20.2 %, respectively. Therefore, the addition of Fe and Mg greatly increased the strength of the zinc alloy. The corrosion potentials of Zn-0.5Fe-0.05Mg and Zn-0.5Mg-0.05Fe alloy GBR membranes were determined as −1.296 V and −1.309 V, respectively. Their corrosion current densities reached 12.05 μA/cm² and 13.65 μA/cm² with corrosion rates of 0.180 mm/year and 0.210 mm/year, respectively. Importantly, the extracts of both Zn-based alloy GBR membranes illustrated good cytocompatibility with a cytotoxicity grade of 0–1. Both Zn-based alloy GBR membranes exhibited good osteogenic ability with quantitative bone volume/tissue volume (BV/TV) ratios for new bone formation reaching 30.3 ± 1.4 % and 65.5 ± 1.8 % after 12 weeks, suggesting good new bone growth ability. Overall, the proposed Zn-0.5Fe-0.05Mg and Zn-0.5Mg-0.05Fe alloy GBR membranes have the potential for applications as biodegradable materials for clinical research. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd