Mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of novel β-type biomaterial Zr-6Mo-4Ti-xY alloys in simulated body fluid Ringer's lactate solution for implant applications

To develop new biomaterials for implant applications, the novel biomaterial multi component Zr-Mo-Ti-xY (x = 1, 2, 3) alloys were developed as a solution to increase mechanical properties and a corrosion resistance and to reduce the toxicity of biomaterials for implant. This research is aimed to investigate the effects of yttrium (Y) element addition to the microstructural transformation, mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of the alloy. The Zr-6Mo-4Ti-xY (x = 1, 2, 3) alloys are made by melting the metals using a vacuum single arc melting furnace with high purity argon gas flow at atmospheric pressure and tungsten electrodes with a six-times remelted process. The hardness test was conducted using the Vickers hardness tester, the microstructure analysis was done using the optical microscopes, and the alloy compound and phases using the XRD and corrosion resistance test were carried out using the polarization method in simulated body fluid Ringer's lactate solution. The values of the hardness test of Zr-6Mo-4Ti-xY (x = 1, 2, 3) alloys are 461.8, 301.5 and 335.1 HV, respectively. The basketweave-shaped microstructure with the addition of yttrium moderately creates little grain measure. The corrosion rate of Zr-6Mo-4Ti-xY (x = 1, 2, 3) alloys which are 0.3159, 0.2705 and 0.3759 mpy respectively, are categorized as outstanding ( the corrosion resistance of <1 mpy) so that it can be considered as a potential biomaterial for implant applications.