Effects of zirconium and oxygen plasma ion implantation on the corrosion behavior of ZK60 Mg alloy in simulated body fluids

The effects of Zr, O, and Zr&O plasma ion implantation on the corrosion behavior of ZK60 Mg alloy are investigated in simulated body fluids (SBF). Immersion tests reveal little surface damage after Zr and Zr&O implantation initially and after 30 h immersion, corrosion protective products including Mg(OH)(2), Ca-10(PO4)(6)(OH)(2), Ca-3(PO4)(2)center dot 3H(2)O, and zirconium phosphate are formed. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy is conducted to investigate the mechanism. Zr&O plasma implanted samples offers 37-fold decrease in i(corr), 62-fold decrease in R-p, much lower CPE1, and much higher phase maxima. Plasma ion implantation is an effective technique to modify the initial corrosion resistance of ZK60 Mg alloy. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd.