This report reviews the effects of chemical, physical, and mechanical surface treatments on the degradation behavior of Mg alloys via their influence on the roughness and surface morphology. Many studies have been focused on technically-used AZ alloys and a few investigations regarding the surface treatment of biodegradable and Al-free Mg alloys, especially under physiological conditions. These treatments tailor the surface roughness, homogenize the morphology, and decrease the degradation rate of the alloys. Conversely, there have also been reports which showed that rough surfaces lead to less pitting and good cell adherence. Besides roughness, there are many other parameters which are much more important than roughness when regarding the degradation behavior of an alloy. These studies, which indicate the relationship between surface treatments, roughness and degradation, require further elaboration, particularly for biomedical Mg alloy applications.

Mg-xGd alloys show potential to be used for degradable implants. As rare earth containing alloys, they are also of special interest for wrought products. All applications from medical to engineering uses require a low and controlled degradation or corrosion rate without pitting. Impurities from fabrication or machining, like Fe inclusions, encourage pitting, which inhibits uniform material degradation. This work investigates a suitable etching method to remove surface contamination and to understand the influence of etching on surface morphology. Acetic acid (HAc) etching as chemical surface treatment has been used to remove contamination from the surface. Extruded Mg-xGd (x = 2, 5 and 10) discs were etched with 250 g/L HAc solution in a volume of 5 mL or 10 mL for different times. The microstructure in the near surface region was characterized. Surface characterization was done by SEM, EDS, interferometry, and ToF-SIMS (time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry) analysis. Different etching kinetics were observed due to microstructure and the volume of etching solution. Gd rich particles and higher etching temperatures due to smaller etchant volumes promote the formation of pits. Removal of 2–9 µm of material from the surface was sufficient to remove surface Fe contamination and to result in a plain surface morphology.