Ultrafine‐grained Zn‐0.45Li alloy with enhanced mechanical property, degradation behavior and cytocompatibility prepared by hot extrusion and multi‐pass drawing.

Biodegradable Zn‐0.45Li alloys with high strength and ductility were successfully fabricated by hot extrusion and multi‐pass drawing to obtain ultrafine‐grained microstructures with a secondary phase of fine LiZn4 participates. The mechanical properties, degradation behavior and cytocompatibility of the alloys were subsequently investigated. Results showed that grain refinement could be achieved in the alloys after hot extrusion and multi‐pass drawing. The yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and elongation to failure of the ultrafine‐grained Zn‐0.45Li alloys reached 416 MPa, 567 MPa and 55.4 %, respectively. Enhancements in both strength and elongation could be attributed to interactions between LiZn4 and matrix dislocations, the pinning effect of LiZn4 on grain boundaries, and grain refinement. Immersion tests and MTT cytotoxicity assay indicated that the Zn‐0.45Li alloys have a corrosion rate and cytocompatibility similar to the values reported for biomedical implants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]