The microstructure and properties of cyclic extrusion compression treated Mg–Zn–Y–Nd alloy for vascular stent application

Magnesium alloys are promising candidate materials for cardiovascular stents due to their good biocompatibility and degradation properties in the human body. However, in vivo tests also show that improvement in their mechanical properties and corrosion resistance is necessary before wide application. In this study, cyclic extrusion compression (CEC) was used to enhance the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of Mg–Zn–Y–Nd alloy. The results show that the grain size was greatly refined to 1  μ m after CEC treatment. The second phase distributed along the grain boundaries with grid shape and nano-sized particles uniformly distributed in grains. The elongation ( δ ), ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and yield strength (YS) of the CEC treatment samples were 30.2%, 303 MPa and 185 MPa respectively. The CEC treated samples showed homogeneous corrosion because of the grain refinement and the homogeneous distribution of nano-sized second phase. The corrosion current density of the alloy decreased from 2.8 × 10 − 4  A/cm 2 to 6.6 × 10 − 5  A/cm 2 after CEC treatment. Therefore, improved mechanical properties, uniform corrosion and reduced corrosion rate could be achieved by CEC.