Formation and adhesion of biomimetic hydroxyapatite deposited on titanium substrates

This study has been carried out to investigate the bioactivity of rutile and to deposit hydroxyapatite (HA) on heat-treated titanium through a biomimetic method. Biomimetic deposition of HA has gained large interest because of its low deposition temperature and good step coverage; however, it demands a substrate with bioactive properties. Commercially pure titanium is not bioactive but it can acquire bioactive properties through various surface treatments. In the present study, titanium plates were heat-treated at 800 °C to achieve rutile TiO2 surfaces. These samples were immersed in a phosphate-buffered saline solution for seven days in order to deposit a HA layer on the surface. The rutile TiO2 surfaces were found to be highly bioactive: after seven days of immersion, a layer of HA several micrometers thick covered the plates. The HA surfaces were confirmed by electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. A scratch test was used to assess the adhesion of the HA coatings. This is a standard method to provide a measure of the coating-to-substrate adhesion and was found to be a useful method to test the thin HA coatings deposited on the bioactive surfaces. The critical pressure of the layer was estimated to be 2.4 ± 0.1 GPa.