Preparation of HA/chitosan composite coatings on alkali treated titanium surfaces through sol–gel techniques

In this paper we demonstrated for the first time the feasibility to generate well crystallized hydroxyapatite/chitosan (HA/CS) composite coatings on alkali treated titanium surfaces through combining the in situ hydrothermal precipitation and sol–gel dip coating technique without introducing any other coupling agent. Alkali treatment converting hydrophobic Ti surfaces into super-hydrophilic surfaces was the pre-requirement of uniform coatings. Preliminary cell culturing results revealed that the coatings were biocompatible and supported osteoblasts attachment.