Microstructure, Corrosion Behaviors in Different Simulated Body Fluids and Cytotoxicity of Zn–Li Alloy as Biodegradable Material

Zn-based biodegradable materials have aroused wide attention due to promising biodegradability and adaptability to tissue regeneration in recent years. Zn–0.5%Li alloys was cast and hot extruded in this study. The microstructure, electrochemical properties and cytocompatibility of the as-extruded Zn–0.5%Li alloy were investigated. Four different simulated body fluids (Ringer’s solution, simulated body fluid (SBF), Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) and DMEM-supplementing with 10% fetal bovine serum (DMEMp)) were employed to study the corrosion behavior of the alloy. The result indicated that Zn–0.5%Li alloy was composed of the matrix Zn and the second phase LiZn4. It showed a higher corrosion resistance in the buffer solutions than that in Ringer’s solution, the corrosion rate can be ranked as Ringer’s > DMEMp > DMEM > SBF. What’s more, the cytotoxicity test shows that the alloy is not toxic to BMSCs. Zn–0.5%Li alloy has the potential to be the biodegradable metal.