Inter-laboratory study on electrochemical methods for the characterisation of CoCrMo biomedical alloys in simulated body fluids (EFC 61)

Annotation All Metals And Alloys Are Subject To Corrosion When In Contact With Body Fluid Due To The Presence Of Chloride Ions And Oxygen. Although The Extent Of Corrosion Is Low Because Of The Passive Surface Films Usually Present On Surgical Implants It Has Clinical Consequences And There Is A Need For A Better Understanding Of The Process. An Inter-laboratory Study Involving 15 Laboratories From Europe And Japan Has Been Undertaken Under The Auspices Of The European Cooperation On Science And Technology (cost) 533 Project: Materials For Improved Wear Resistance Of Total Artificial Joints. The Aim Of This Work, Which Is Being Conducted With The Support Of Efc Working Party 18 On Tribocorrosion, Is To Evaluate The Reproducibility Of The Electrochemical Test Methods Currently Used To Study The Corrosion Of Biomaterials. A 65 % Co, 28 % Cr, 6 % Mo Alloy Was Used For The Collaborative Investigation. Generally Good Qualitative Agreement Was Obtained Between The Various Participants. However, An Important Outcome Of The Study Was That The Present Scientific Understanding Of Cocrmo Corrosion Is Not Sufficient To Design Electrochemical Experiments For The Reliable Quantitative Determination Of Corrosion Rates In Biological Fluids. This Important Outcome Highlights The Need For Improved Electrochemical Test Methods, Especially With Regard To Surface Preparation, Chemical And Electrochemical Pre-conditioning, Solution Aeration And Data Extraction. The Book Will Be Of Great Interest To Everyone Involved In The Determination Of Potentiodynamic Polarisation Curves And Electrochemical Impedance Spectra.chapters Include: Introduction And Rationale; Electrochemical Corrosion Study Of Biomedical Alloys; Protocol For The Inter-laboratory Study ; Results; Discussion; Conclusion. Annotation All metals and alloys are subject to corrosion when in contact with body fluid due to the presence of chloride ions and oxygen. Although the extent of corrosion is low because of the passive surface films usually present on surgical implants it has clinical consequences and there is a need for a better understanding of the process. An inter-laboratory study involving 15 laboratories from Europe and Japan has been undertaken under the auspices of the European Cooperation on Science and Technology (COST) 533 Project: Materials for Improved Wear Resistance of Total Artificial Joints. The aim of this work, which is being conducted with the support of EFC Working Party 18 on Tribocorrosion, is to evaluate the reproducibility of the electrochemical test methods currently used to study the corrosion of biomaterials. A 65 % Co, 28 % Cr, 6 % Mo alloy was used for the collaborative investigation. Generally good qualitative agreement was obtained between the various participants. However, an important outcome of the study was that the present scientific understanding of CoCrMo corrosion is not sufficient to design electrochemical experiments for the reliable quantitative determination of corrosion rates in biological fluids. This important outcome highlights the need for improved electrochemical test methods, especially with regard to surface preparation, chemical and electrochemical pre-conditioning, solution aeration and data extraction. The book will be of great interest to everyone involved in the determination of potentiodynamic polarisation curves and electrochemical impedance spectra. Chapters include: Introduction and rationale; Electrochemical corrosion study of biomedical alloys; Protocol for the inter-laboratory study ; Results; Discussion; Conclusion This special issue of Corrosion Engineering Science and Technology is dedicated to the study of corrosion of objects from historical sites. The issue contains contributions from the 2009 EUROCORR session on Corrosion of Archaeological and Heritage Artefacts organised by the European Federation of Corrosion's working party and commissioned articles on other key issues. The objective is to give the reader a broad understanding of corrosion of ancient materials, for the most part metal but also glass. Articles shed light on a range of analytical approaches related to the study of the complex systems that make up historical artifacts. In order to arrive at an understanding of the nanometric organisation of rust layers and interphases, such studies must be approached on a macroscopic scale. Techniques used include; macrophotography, synchrotron radiation and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) that ensure results that are both exhaustive and representative of particular observations. This issue demonstrates the wealth of approaches possible in the study of the corrosion of ancient materials. This publication reports the results of an inter-laboratory investigation evaluating the reproducibility of electrochemical test protocols commonly used in research assessing the corrosion behaviour of biomedical CoCrMo alloys used for artificial joints