Characteristics of Mg-Zn-Ca-Pr Alloy Synthesized by Mechanical Alloying

Abstract

Magnesium-based materials are an interesting solution in terms of medical applications. Alloys that are hard to obtain via standard means may be manufactured via mechanical alloying (MA), which allows the production of materials with complex a chemical composition and non-equilibrium structures. This work aimed to investigate materials obtained by the MA process for 5, 8, 13, and 20 h in terms of their phase composition and changes during heating. The results of thermal XRD analysis were in the temperature range between 25 and 360 °C, which revealed MgZn2, PrZn11, Ca2Mg5Zn13, and Ca phases as well as α-Mg and α-Zn solid solution. The structural analysis features the powder morphology of the analyzed samples, showing cold-welding and fracturing processes leading to their homogenization, which is supported by the EDS results. The base Mg-Zn-Ca alloy was modified by different additions, but a thorough analysis of the influence of praseodymium on its thermal properties has not yet been performed. We chose to focus on Pr addition because it belongs to low-toxicity rare earth metals, which is an essential feature of biomaterials. Also, the Ca2Mg5Zn13 phase is not fully known, as there are no crystallographic data (hkl). Therefore, the investigation is important and scientifically justified.