Biodegradable polymer for sealing porous PEO layer on pure magnesium: An in vitro degradation study

Abstract

An attempt was made to seal the porous silicate-based plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) layer on pure magnesium (Mg) with a biodegradable polymer, poly(l-lactide) (PLLA), to delay the localized degradation of magnesium-based implants in body fluid for better in-service mechanical integrity. Firstly, a silicate-based PEO coating on pure magnesium was performed using a pulsed constant current method. In order to seal the pores in the PEO layer, PLLA was coated using a two-step spin coating method. The performance of the PEO–PLLA Mg was evaluated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization. The EIS results showed that the polarization resistance (Rp) of the PEO–PLLA Mg was close to two orders of magnitude higher than that of the PEO Mg. While the corrosion current density (icorr) of the pure Mg was reduced by 65% with the PEO coating, the PEO–PLLA coating reduced the icorr by almost 100%. As expected, the Rp of the PEO–PLLA Mg decreased with increase in exposure time. However, it was noted that the Rp of the PEO–PLLA Mg even after 100 h was six times higher than that of the PEO Mg after 48 h exposure, and did not show any visible localized attack.