Effect of Silver on Corrosion Behavior of Plastically Deformed Twinning-Induced Plasticity Steel for Biodegradable Stents

Magnesium-based alloys have insufficient mechanical properties to make stents as thin as permanent ones.. Twinning-induced plasticity steels, made of Fe, Mn, and C, show significant potential in terms of mechanical properties, but their corrosion rate is too slow. Addition of silver shows promise in this sense; However, the corrosion mechanism promoted by addition of Ag remains unclear. Moreover, the effect of plastic deformation on the corrosion mechanism is still unknown for this system. The effect of silver on the degradation behavior of a deformed twinning-induced plasticity steel has been studied. It was observed that Ag did not accelerate the corrosion rate. On the other hand, its addition promoted more uniform degradation, thus indicating the potential of twinning-induced plasticity steels for application in very thin biodegradable stents.