Development of biomedical Ti-Nb-Zr-Mn alloys with enhanced mechanical properties and corrosion resistance

In order to develop a new biomedical titanium alloy with excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance, a series of newly designed Ti-24Nb-4Zr-xMn (x = 0, 1, 3, 5 wt%) alloys based on Mo equivalent method and d-electron alloy design theory were successfully fabricated by mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering. The effect of Mn content on the microstructures, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the Ti-Nb-Zr-Mn alloys were systematically investigated. The results showed that moderate Mn is beneficial to the formation of the fine and uniform alpha '' and beta grain, which is helpful to improve the mechanical properties. Among all the investigated alloys, Ti-24Nb-4Zr-3Mn alloy prepared under 40 MPa (TNZ3M-40) exhibited the highest compressive strength (2336 MPa) and large strain (similar to 35%). In addition, the electrochemical measurements showed that the addition of Mn can further improve the corrosion resistance, and the corrosion potential and corrosion current density in Ringer's solution are - 0.207 V and 27.28 nA/cm(2) for TNZ3M-40, respectively. This study offers a potential strategy for developing biomedical Ti-Nb-Zr-Mn alloys with high performance for biological implantation.