Effects of Cu Content on the Corrosion Behavior, Mechanical Properties, Cytocompatibility, and Antibacterial Performance of Zn–1Mg–xCu Alloys

Abstract

This work mainly focuses on the mechanical and anti‐infection deficiencies of zinc alloy‐based bone implant materials. Microstructural analysis, tensile testing, electrochemical investigation, immersion experiments, and antibacterial testing are used to investigate the effects of Cu content on the mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and antibacterial properties of the Zn–1Mg–xCu (x = 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 wt%) alloys. The results show that the addition of Cu to Zn–1Mg alloy produces a high‐strength and high‐hardness intermediate phase of CuZn5, which significantly increases the tensile strength from 115.2 to 210.6 MPa, elongation from 1.9% to 5.72%, the diameter of the inhibition zone increases from 3.3 to 5.1 mm, and the cytotoxicity level of all alloys improves, reaching up to grade 1. Consequently, these findings suggest that the Zn–1Mg–2Cu alloy possesses the best mechanical properties, most uniform degradation rate, impressive antibacterial properties, and an excellent biocompatibility. Therefore, the Zn–1Mg–2Cu alloy is considered a most preferred material candidate in the field of biodegradable Zn alloys.