The misalignment between degradation rate and mechanical integrity of Mg-Zn-Y-Nd alloy during the degradation evaluation in modified Hanks' solutions

The degradation behavior of biodegradable Mg alloys has become a research hotspot in the fields about biodegradable metallic materials. While the most of the related publications mainly focused on the degradation rate of Mg-based materials, but rare to care about the changes of their mechanical properties during the immersion period, which can significantly affect their service performance. The link between residual strength and Mg degradation is not appreciated enough. In this work, a series media were constructed based on Hanks’ solution, the effects of inorganic ions on the degradation rate and mechanical integrity of Mg-Zn-Y-Nd alloy were investigated. The results indicated that the degradation behavior of Mg alloy was mainly controlled by degradation products and there is no direct correspondence between the degradation rate change and mechanical integrity of Mg alloy. The relevant findings are beneficial for selecting the monitoring index in Mg corrosion tests and evaluating the service reliability of Mg alloys for biomedical applications.