Degradation behavior of Ca-Mg-Zn intermetallic compounds for use as biodegradable implant materials.

With the goal of developing new biodegradable implant materials, we have investigated the degradation behavior of (Ca, Mg)-based intermetallic compounds. The degradation behavior of the compounds within the Ca-Mg-Zn system was roughly classified into four groups, and their behaviors were strongly influenced by the compositions of the compounds. For example, the Ca3MgxZn(15-x) compound exhibited a large solubility region with varying the Mg/Zn ratio, and the Ca3Mg12Zn3 phase alloy with the lowest Zn content was rapidly broken apart within 6h of immersion.