Fe-Mn-Pd alloys are promising candidates as biodegradable material for use in temporary implant applications. In this study, the hardening phase of Fe-rich martensitic alloys containing 1, 3, and 6 wt.% Pd and a fixed Mn content of 10 wt.% was investigated. All of these alloys show considerable age-hardening upon isothermal aging at 500 °C, exhibiting a behavior characteristic of maraging steels. Atom probe tomography (APT) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements were performed to characterize the composition and crystallography of nanometer-sized precipitates forming in the overaged region of the Fe-Mn-Pd alloys. The precipitates consist mainly of Mn and Pd and the peaks of the intermetallic particles observed in the XRD spectra can be ascribed to the face-centered tetragonal β1-MnPd phase. The precipitation sequence for Fe-Mn-Pd is revealed to be similar to that reported for Fe-Mn-Ni and Fe-Mn-Pt maraging steel
