Evaluation of Bioabsorbable Mg–Mn Alloy with Anodic Oxidation Treatment

Magnesium alloys as biodegradable materials have been examined that may replace bone screws and plates in recent studies. But the velocity control of magnesium alloy is very difficult. Until now, the magnesium alloys degrade very fast, thus it couldn't maintain the function in clinical field. Thus the purpose of this study is to evaluate the degradability of anodized magnesium alloy for control the velocity. For this experiment, a Mg-xMn (x = 0, 0.5, 1 wt%) binary alloy was cast in argon gas (99.99%) atmosphere. The specimens of the surface treatment group were anodized for 15 minutes at a voltage of 120 V at room temperature using calcium gluconate, sodium hexametaphosphate, and sodium hydroxide electrolyte. For the mechanical test, SEM, roughness test, hardness test were examined. The degradation test was conducted to measure the hydrogen gas formation volume. For biologic test, cell viability were tested. After anodic oxidation treatment, the surface showed the crater formation, the size of craters were about 200~300 nm. Among nonanodized group, the Mg-0.5Mn showed the highest Vickers hardness and cell viability. However for biodegradability test, Mg-1Mn showed the lowest the hydrogen gas formation. For anodic oxidation treatment, anodic oxidation treatment makes rougher surface, higher hardness, good cell response and lower degradation rate. Overall, anodized Mg-1Mn showed the possibility for clinical application in bone screw and bone plate.