Magnesium is potentially useful for orthopaedic and cardiovascular applications. However, the corrosion rate of this metal is so high that its degradation occurs before the end of the healing process. In industrial media the behaviour of several magnesium alloys have been probed to be better than magnesium performance. However, the information related to their corrosion behaviour in biological media is insufficient. The aim of this work is to study the influence of the components of organic fluids on the corrosion behaviour of Mg and AZ31 and LAE442 alloys using potentiodynamic, potentiostatic and EIS techniques. Results showed localized attack in chloride containing media. The breakdown potential decreased when chloride concentration increased. The potential range of the passivation region was extended in the presence of albumin. EIS measurements showed that the corrosion behaviour of the AZ31 was very different from that of LAE442 alloy in chloride solutions.

Biomaterials failures are frequently associated to the formation of bacterial biofilms on the surface. The aim of this work is to study the adhesion of non motile bacteria streptococci consortium and motile Pseudomonas fluorescens. Substrates with micro and nanopatterned topography were used. The influence of surface characteristics on bacterial adhesion was investigated using optical and epifluorescence microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Results showed an important influence of the substratum nature. On microrough surfaces, initial bacterial adhesion was less significant than on smooth surfaces. In contrast, nanopatterned samples showed more bacterial attachment than the smooth control. It was also noted a remarkable difference in morphology, orientation and distribution of bacteria between the smooth and the nanostructured substrate. The results show the important effect of substratum nature and topography on bacterial adhesion which depended on the relation between roughness characteristics dimensions and bacterial size.