Effect of alloying and adding hydroxyapatite on the mechanical and corrosive properties of porous magnesium (Mg)

Porous magnesium (Mg) can be a promising material for biomedical application especially implants due to their low density, structure and properties comparable to human bones. In the current work, porous Mg composites were fabricated using powder metallurgy technique with tailored porosities using PMMA particles as space holder (30wt.%, 40wt.%, and 50wt.%.) that decompose on sintering leaving porosity behind. Zinc and manganese were added as alloying elements and hydroxyapatite was added as an additive in proportion of 6wt.%, 8wt.%, 10wt.%, and 12wt.% to influence the mechanical and corrosion properties of porous Mg. The density and porosity were calculated for all samples followed by the compression and corrosion test to evaluate their performance. The porous Mg composites with porosities ranging from 29.64 to 51.34% were developed with compressive strength in the order of 2.63–23.01 MPa and corrosion rate of 1.13-0.6 mm/year. The better performance was exhibited by porous Mg composite with 30wt.% of PMMA and 12wt.% of Hydroxyapatite. The findings indicated that mechanical characteristics and corrosion resistance of porous Mg composites can be successfully controlled by alloying and addition of Hydroxyapatite to make them suitable for biomedical applications.