Corrosion study of single crystal Ni-Mn-Ga alloy and Tb0.27Dy0.73Fe1.95 alloy for the design of new medical microdevices.

Once placed in a magnetic field, smart magnetic materials (SMM) change their shape, which could be use for the development of smaller minimally invasive surgery devices activated by magnetic field. However, the potential degradation and release of cytotoxic ions by SMM corrosion has to be determined. This paper evaluates the corrosion resistance of two SMM: a single crystal Ni-Mn-Ga alloy and Tb(0.27)Dy(0.73)Fe(1.95) alloy. Ni-Mn-Ga alloy displayed a corrosion potential (E (corr)) of -0.58 V/SCE and a corrosion current density (i (corr)) of 0.43 μA/cm(2). During the corrosion assay, Ni-Mn-Ga sample surface was partially protected; local pits were formed on 20% of the surface and nickel ions were mainly found in the electrolyte. Tb(0.27)Dy(0.73)Fe(1.95) alloy exhibited poor corrosion properties such as E (corr) of -0.87 V/SCE and i (corr) of 5.90 μA/cm(2). During the corrosion test, this alloy was continuously degraded, its surface was impaired by pits and cracks extensively and a high amount of iron ions was measured in the electrolyte. These alloys exhibited low corrosion parameters and a selective degradation in the electrolyte. They could only be used for medical applications if they are coated with high strain biocompatible materials or embedded in composites to prevent direct contact with physiological fluids.