Concurrence of High Corrosion Resistance and Strength with Excellent Ductility in Ultrafine-Grained Mg-3Y Alloy

In the field of magnesium-based degradable implantable devices, the Mg-Y-RE-Zr alloying system (WE-type) has gained popularity due to its satisfying degradation rate together with mechanical strength. However, utilization of RE and Zr in the WE-type alloys was originally driven to improve Mg-based alloys for high-temperature applications in the industry, while for medical purposes, there is a question of whether the amount of alloying elements may be further optimized. For this reason, our paper presents the Mg-3Y (W3) magnesium alloy as an alternative to the WE43 alloy. This study shows that the omission of RE and Zr elements did not compromise the corrosion resistance and the degradation rate of the W3 alloy when compared with the WE43 alloy; appropriate biocompatibility was preserved as well. It was shown that the decrease in the mechanical strength caused by the omission of RE and Zr from the WE43 alloy could be compensated for by severe plastic deformation, as achieved in this study, by equal channel angular pressing. Ultrafine-grained W3 alloy exhibited compression yield strength of 362 ± 6 MPa and plastic deformation at maximum stress of 18 ± 1%. Overall, the early results of this study put forward the motion of avoiding RE elements and Zr in magnesium alloy as a suitable material for biodegradable applications and showed that solo alloying of yttrium is sufficient for maintaining desirable properties of the material at once.