Magnesium-based materials are interesting alternatives for medical implants, as they have promising mechanical and biological properties. Thanks to them, it is possible to create biodegradable materials for medical application, which would reduce both costs and time of treatment. Magnesium as the sole material, however, it is not enough to support this function. It is important to determine proper alloying elements and methods. A viable method for creating such alloys is mechanical alloying, which can be used to design the structure and properties for proper roles. Mechanical alloying is highly influenced by the milling time of the alloy, as the time of the process affects many properties of the milled powders. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were carried out to study the powder morphology and chemical composition of Mg₆₅Zn₃₀Ca₄Gd₁ powders. Moreover, the powder size was assessed by granulometric method and the Vickers hardness test was used for microhardness testing. The samples were milled for 6 min, 13, 20, 30, 40, and 70 h. The hardness correlated with the particle size of the samples. After 30 h of milling time, the average value of hardness was equal to 168 HV and it was lower after 13 (333 HV), 20 (273 HV), 40 (329 HV), and 70 (314 HV) h. The powder particles average size increased after 13 (31 μm) h of milling time, up to 30 (45–49 μm) hours, and then sharply decreased after 40 (28 μm) and 70 (12 μm) h.

Alloys based on magnesium are of considerable scientific interest as they have very attractive mechanical and biological properties that could be used to manufacture biodegradable materials for medical applications. Mechanical alloying is a very suitable process to obtain alloys that are normally hard to produce as it allows for solid-state diffusion via highly energetic milling, producing fine powders. Powders obtained by this method can be sintered into nearly net-shape products, moreover, their phase and chemical composition can be specifically tailored. This work aims to investigate the effect of milling time on the density, microstructure, phase composition, and mechanical properties of Mg-Zn-Ca-Pr powders processed by high energy mechanical alloying (HEMA) and consolidated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). Thus, the results of XRD phase analysis, particle size distribution (granulometry), density, mechanical properties, SEM investigation of mechanically alloyed and sintered Mg-Zn-Ca-Pr alloy are presented in this manuscript. The obtained results illustrate how mechanical alloying can be used to produce amorphous and crystalline materials, which can be sintered and demonstrates how the milling time impacts their microstructure, phase composition, and resulting mechanical properties.

Purpose: This paper explains mechanical synthesis which uses powders or material chunks in order to obtain phases and alloys. It is based on an example of magnesium powders with various additives, such as zinc, calcium and yttrium. Design/methodology/approach: The following experimental techniques were used: X-ray diffraction (XRD) method, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), determining particle size distributions with laser measuring, Vickers microhardness. Findings: The particle-size of a powder and microhardness value depend on the milling time. Research limitations/implications: Magnesium gained its largest application area by creating alloys in combination with other elements. Magnesium alloys used in various industry contain various elements e.g. rare-earth elements (REE). Magnesium alloys are generally made by casting processes. Consequently, the search for new methods of obtaining materials such as mechanical alloying (MA) offers new opportunities. The MA allows for the production of materials with completely new physico-chemical properties. Originality/value: Thanks to powder engineering it is possible to manufacture materials with specific chemical composition. These materials are characterized by very high purity, specified porosity, fine-grain structure, complicated designs. These are impossible to obtain with traditional methods. Moreover it is possible to refine the process even further minimalizing the need for finishing or machining, making the material losses very small or negligible. Furthermore material manufactured in such a way can be thermally or chemically processed without any problems.

Magnesium-based materials constitute promising alternatives for medical applications, due to their characteristics, such as good mechanical and biological properties. This opens many possibilities for biodegradable materials to be used as less-invasive options for treatment. Degradation is prompted by their chemical composition and microstructure. Both those aspects can be finely adjusted by means of proper manufacturing processes, such as mechanical alloying (MA). Furthermore, MA allows for alloying elements that would normally be really hard to mix due to their very different properties. Magnesium usually needs various alloying elements, which can further increase its characteristics. Alloying magnesium with rare earth elements is considered to greatly improve the aforementioned properties. Due to that fact, erbium was used as one of the alloying elements, alongside zinc and calcium, to obtain an Mg₆₄Zn₃₀Ca₄Er₁ alloy via mechanical alloying. The alloy was milled in the SPEX 8000 Dual Mixer/Mill high energy mill under an argon atmosphere for 8, 13, and 20 hours. It was assessed using X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy and granulometric analysis as well as by studying its hardness. The hardness values reached 232, 250, and 302 HV, respectively, which is closely related to their particle size. Average particle sizes were 15, 16, and 17 μm, respectively

The magnesium-based alloys produced by mechanical alloying (MA) are characterized by specific porosity, fine-grained structure, and isotropic properties. In addition, alloys containing magnesium, zinc, calcium, and the noble element gold are biocompatible, so they can be used for biomedical implants. The paper assesses selected mechanical properties and the structure of the Mg₆₃Zn₃₀Ca₄Au₃ as a potential biodegradable biomaterial. The alloy was produced by mechanical synthesis with a milling time of 13 h, and sintered via spark-plasma sintering (SPS) carried out at a temperature of 350 °C and a compaction pressure of 50 MPa, with a holding time of 4 min and a heating rate of 50 °C∙min⁻¹ to 300 °C and 25 °C∙min⁻¹ from 300 to 350 °C. The article presents the results of the X-ray diffraction (XRD) method, density, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), particle size distributions, and Vickers microhardness and electrochemical properties via electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic immersion testing. The obtained results reveal the compressive strength of 216 MPa and Young’s modulus of 2530 MPa. The structure comprises MgZn₂ and Mg₃Au phases formed during the mechanical synthesis, and Mg₇Zn₃ that has been formed during the sintering process. Although MgZn₂ and Mg₇Zn₃ improve the corrosion resistance of the Mg-based alloys, it has been revealed that the double layer formed because of contact with the Ringer’s solution is not an effective barrier; hence, more data and optimization are necessary.