Zinc and its alloys are considered as promising materials for the preparation of biodegradable medical devices (stents and bone fixation screws) due to their enhanced biocompatibility. These materials must achieve an ideal combination of mechanical and corrosion properties that can be influenced by alloying or thermomechanical processes. This paper presents the effects of different mechanical alloying (MA) parameters on the composition of Zn-1Mg powder. At the same time, this study describes the influence of preparation by MA on Zn-6Mg and Zn-16Mg alloys. The selected powders were compacted by the spark plasma sintering (SPS) method. Subsequently, their microstructures were studied and their mechanical properties were tested. The overall process led to a significant grain refinement (629 ± 274 nm for Zn-1Mg) and the formation of new intermetallic phases (Mg2Zn11, MgZn2). The compressive properties of the sintered samples were mainly related to the concentration of the alloying elements, where an increase in concentration led to an improvement in strength but a deterioration in ductility. According to the obtained results, the best properties were obtained for the Zn-1Mg alloy.

• Klíčová slova
• magnesium, mechanical alloying, mechanical properties, powder metallurgy, zinc,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Powder metallurgy is a group of advanced processes for the synthesis, processing, and shaping of various kinds of materials. Initially inspired by ceramics processing, the methodology comprising of the production of a powder and its transformation to a compact solid product has attracted great attention since the end of World War II. At present, there are many technologies for powder production (e.g., gas atomization of the melt, chemical reduction, milling, and mechanical alloying) and its consolidation (e.g., pressing and sintering, hot isostatic pressing, and spark plasma sintering). The most promising ones can achieve an ultra-fine or nano-grained structure of the powder, and preserve it during consolidation. Among these methods, mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering play a key role. This Special Issue gives special focus to the advancement of mechanical alloying, spark plasma sintering and self-propagating high-temperature synthesis methods, as well as to the role of these processes in the development of new materials.

• Klíčová slova
• mechanical alloying, powder metallurgy, self-propagating high-temperature synthesis, spark plasma sintering,
• Publikační typ
• úvodníky MeSH