Effects of grain size on the corrosion resistance of pure magnesium by cooling rate-controlled solidification

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of grain size on the corrosion resistance of pure magnesium developed for biomedical applications. High-purity magnesium samples with different grain size were prepared by the cooling rate-controlled solidification. Electrochemical and immersion tests were employed to measure the corrosion resistance of pure magnesium with different grain size. The electrochemical polarization curves indicated that the corrosion susceptibility increased as the grain size decrease. However, the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and immersion tests indicated that the corrosion resistance of pure magnesium is improved as the grain size decreases. The improvement in the corrosion resistance is attributed to refine grain can produce more uniform and density film on the surface of sample.

Keywords

pure magnesium / solidification cooling rate / grain size / corrosion resistance

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51271131) and Tianjin High University and the College Foundation for Science and Technology Development (20110301).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg