Magnesium and its alloys are ideal candidates for biodegradable implants. However, they can dissolve too rapidly in the human body for most applications. In this research, high purified magnesium (HP-Mg) was coated with stearic acid in order to slow the corrosion rate of magnesium in simulated body fluid at 37{deg}C. HP-Mg was anodized to form an oxide/hydroxide layer, then it was immersed in a stearic acid solution. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization were used to estimate the corrosion rate of HP-Mg specimens. The results confirm that the hydrophobic coating can temporarily decrease the corrosion rate of HP-Mg by 1000x.
Download