Manufacturing Technology 2025, 25(6):728-734 | DOI: 10.21062/mft.2025.078

Tensile Behaviour of Zn–Mg Heterostructured Materials for Biodegradable Implant Applications

Anna Boukalová ORCID...1, David Nečas ORCID...1, Drahomír Dvorský ORCID...2, Jan ©»ovíček ORCID...1, Jan Pokorný ORCID...1, Jiří Kubásek ORCID...1
1 Department of Metals and Corrosion Engineering, University of Chemistry and Technology, Technická 6, Prague 6, 166 28, Czech Republic
2 Department of Physics, Czech Academy of Science, Na Slovance 1999/2, Prague 8, 182 21, Czech Republic

Biodegradable zinc-based alloys have recently attracted attention as promising candidates for temporary implant applications due to their favourable corrosion behaviour and biocompatibility. In this study, three materials — pure Zn, Zn–1Mg alloy, and a Zn + Zn–1Mg composite — were fabricated via powder metallurgy and extrusion to evaluate their microstructural characteristics and tensile performance. The composite material was designed to combine ductile Zn regions with a reinforcing Zn–1Mg network, aiming to achieve a balance of strength and ductility. Microstructural analysis revealed coarse-grained Zn regions surrounded by ultrafine-grained Zn–1Mg areas containing Mg₂Zn₁₁ particles, with oxide shells present at the Zn/Zn–1Mg interfaces. Tensile testing showed improvement in mechanical performance compared to the individual constituents. However, the oxide shells prevented effective load transfer between the fine-grained and coarse-grained areas of the microstructure.

Keywords: Zinc Alloys, Heterostructure, Biodegradable, Microstructure, Tensile Properties
Grants and funding:

This research was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (project no. 21–11439K) and by the project "Mechanical Engineering of Biological and Bio-inspired Systems", funded as project No. CZ.02.01.01/00/22_008/0004634 by Programme Johannes Amos Comenius, call Excellent Research. This research was also supported by the Czech Science Foundation (project no. 25-16144S). We also thank the Specific university research, project A1_FCHT_2025_011 and A2_FCHT_2025_046

Received: August 28, 2025; Revised: December 1, 2025; Accepted: December 6, 2025; Prepublished online: December 22, 2025; Published: December 23, 2025  Show citation

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Boukalová A, Nečas D, Dvorský D, ©»ovíček J, Pokorný J, Kubásek J. Tensile Behaviour of Zn–Mg Heterostructured Materials for Biodegradable Implant Applications. Manufacturing Technology. 2025;25(6):728-734. doi: 10.21062/mft.2025.078.
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