High plastic Zr-Cu-Fe-Al-Nb bulk metallic glasses for biomedical applications

Four Zr-Cu-Fe-Al-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) with Zr contents greater than 65at% and minor additions of Nb were designed and prepared. The glass forming abilities, thermal stabilities, mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance properties of the prepared BMGs were investigated. These BMGs exhibit moderate glass forming abilities along with superior fracture and yield strengths compared to previously reported Zr-Cu-Fe-Al BMGs. Specifically, the addition of Nb into this quaternary system remarkably increases the plastic strain to 27.5%, which is related to the high Poisson's ratio and low Young's and shear moduli. The Nb-bearing BMGs also exhibit a lower corrosion current density by about one order of magnitude and a wider passive region than 316L steel in phosphate buffer solution (PBS, pH 7.4). The combination of the optimized composition with high deformation ability, low Young's modulus, and excellent corrosion resistance properties indicates that this kind of BMG is promising for biomedical applications.