Nanostructures increase corrosion resistance in metallic body implants

Iranian researchers studied the corrosion and immunity behavior of a new type of nanostructures and used them in the production of metallic body implants.

Corrosion behavior of metallic biomaterials has a strong effect on the biodegradability of medical metallic implants. Therefore, it is very important to study this characteristic.

Stainless Steel 316L has an important role in the production of metallic implants. However, it may cause biological problems for people due to the corrosion process inside the body in a long period. The corrosion of the metal releases toxic ions, including nickel and chrome, which cause allergy and infection in the body.

In this research, the structure of stainless steel 316L is modified by a nanostructure. Therefore, the corrosion resistance of the steel increases significantly in the liquid atmosphere of the body that contains chlorine corrosive ion. Increasing the corrosion resistance of the implant inside the body increases its biocompatibility and immunity in the body atmosphere. In addition, the probability of the creation of allergy by releasing metallic ions from the implant surface due to the corrosion of the metallic implant inside the body minimizes.

The modified steel in this research has an average size of 78 nm. Based on the results, corrosion resistance of the nanostructure stainless steel 316L is about 4 times higher than its microstructure form.

Results of the research have been published in Corrosion, vol. 71, issue 3, 2015, pp. 367-375.