The Role of Antibacterial Metallic Elements in Simultaneously Improving the Corrosion Resistance and Antibacterial Activity of Magnesium Alloys

Magnesium-based biodegradable alloys exhibit excellent mechanical properties and bioactivity, which are favorable in the orthopedic applications. In addition, the degradation of Mg alloys results in an alkaline microenvironment which can effectively withstand bacteria. However, the degradation rate of Mg is too fast to sustain the healing process. And enhancement of its corrosion resistance may compromise the antibacterial ability, thus, alloying with antibacterial elements or doping these elements into coatings on Mg and its alloys may be a prospective strategy to combine the corrosion resistance and antibacterial activity together. This review mainly discussed the role of common antibacterial metallic elements in improving the antibacterial properties and corrosion resistance of Mg-based alloys, including sliver (Ag), Zinc (Zn) and Copper (Cu). Besides, the potential antibacterial mechanism of Mg has been proposed systematically.