The biomedical applications of Mg-based alloys are limited by their rapid corrosion rate in the body fluid. In this study, the hydrothermal synthesis is employed to produce protective bioactive hydroxyapatite coating (HAC) and strontium-substituted hydroxyapatite coating (Sr-HAC) to further enhance the corrosion resistance and in vitro biocompatibility of biodegradable AZ91D Mg alloy in physiological environments. For comparison, the brucite Mg(OH)2 prepared by the alkaline pre-treatment is designated as a control group. Experimental evidences of XRD and XPS analysis confirm that Sr2+ ions can be incorporated into HA crystal structure. It is noted that the hydrothermally synthesized Sr-HAC conversion coating composed of a specific surface topography with the nanoscaled flake-like fine crystallites is constructed on the AZ91D Mg alloy. The hydrophilicity of Mg substrate is effectively enhanced with the decrease in static contact angles after performing alkaline and hydrothermal treatments. Potentiodynamic polarization measurements reveal that the nanostructured Sr-HAC-coated specimens exhibit superior corrosion resistance than HAC and alkaline pre-treated Mg(OH)2. Moreover, immersion tests demonstrate that Sr-HAC provides favorable long-term stability for the Mg alloy with decreasing concentration of released Mg2+ ions in the SBF and the reduced corrosion rate during the immersion length of 30 days. The cells cultured on Sr-HAC specimens exhibit higher viability than those on the alkaline-pre-treated Mg(OH)2 and HAC specimens. The Sr-substituted HA coating with a nanostructured surface topography can help to stimulate the cell viability of osteoblastic cells.
Keywords: biodegradable magnesium alloys; cell viability; corrosion resistance; dissolution behaviors; hydrothermal synthesis; nano-topography.