Corrosion of Metals

Lecture Outline
What is corrosion? Types of corrosion Mechanism of corrosion Types of electrochemical corrosion Effect of corrosion Prevention of corrosion

What is corrosion?
Corrosion is the destruction of a metal or an

alloy by chemical or electrochemical reaction with its surrounding environment or medium.

Body environment tissue fluids contains water,

salt, dissolved oxygen, bacteria, proteins and various ions such as chloride and hydroxide.
This is aggressive environment for metal

implants

Types of corrosion
1. Chemical corrosion (dry corrosion):
Occurs in the absence of fluids or water

2. Electrochemical corrosion:

It is a combination of chemical reaction and a flow of electric current

Mechanism of Electrochemical corrosion

1. Two dissimilar metals with different

electrode potentials 2. Electrolyte 3. Chemical reaction

Mechanism of corrosion

At the anode: metal oxidized and the electrons are liberated from the metal to form +ve metal ions. The liberated electrons dissolve into the electrolyte, and deposition is formed on the cathodic metal
At the anode: Oxidation reaction takes place (giving up metal ions) At the cathode: Reduction reaction takes place (gaining metal ions) i.e. Anode dissolves (corrodes) while the cathode remains intact.

Types of electrochemical corrosion

1. Galvanic corrosion
When two dissimilar metals are connected electrically through an electrolyte one metal will become anodic with reference to the other and the potential difference will create an electric current causing the more anodic metal to corrode

Occur at the surface of one metal

2. Stress corrosion
When an implant is subjected to stress, the corrosion process could be accelerated due to the mechanical energy. Under tensile stresses corrosion can form minute crack which increases in size as a result of stress concentration resulting in crack growth and failure of implant.

Stress-Corrosion Cracking

3. Fatigue corrosion

If low mechanical stress(below the proportional limit of the implant material) is repeated for long period of time then fatigue stress corrosion takes place as in the femoral stem of the hip joint and hip nails made of stainless steel.
4. Pitting corrosion

Corrosion in which pits form on the metal surface. The passivity is locally broken by the chloride.

What produce Corrosion?

1. Irregularities of metal surface. 2. Difference in composition of the metal surface
(alloying; combination 2 or more metals).

3. Stress induced during manufacturing of implants.

Protection from corrosion:

Passivation:

Passivation is the formation of stable surface oxide layer that prevents further oxidation of the metal. Passivation corresponds to the transformation of an active surface which is corroding to an inactive surface, by formation of a passivation layer.

Chromium?????

Effect of corrosion:
Corrosion products (ions) released in the body may lead to:

1. local pain and swelling in the region of the implant, with no evidence of infection. 2. Metal ions may migrate to other organs of the body causing inflammation. 3. cracking or flaking of the implant may lead to mechanical failure of implant. Most of these failures are due to fatigue.

TO prevent corrosion:
Use appropriate metals Avoid implantation of dissimilar metals Use highly polished metal implant A metal that does not corrode in one part of the body may corrode somewhere else

Home Work:

1. Describe the mechanism of electrochemical corrosion. 2. List the effect of corrosion on the body and on the implant

References
Biomaterials Science. An introduction to materials in medicine. Ratner B,D, Hoffman A, Schoen F, Lemons J, E . First Edition,.1996
Biomaterials :An introduction Park j, Lakes R.S. Third Edition, 2007