Combustion synthesis of Ti-C-Co-Ca3(PO4)2-Ag-Mg electrodes and their utilization for pulsed electrospark deposition of bioactive coatings having an antibacterial effect

This study aimed to obtain biocompatible ceramic materials in the Ti-C-Co-Ca3(PO4)2-Ag-Mg system in combustion mode. The influence of cobalt additive on the combustion parameters, as well as the structure and properties of the electrode materials, was studied. Compact ceramics consists of a rigid frame of nonstoichiometric titanium (TiC0,5-TiC0,6) carbide grains with titanium phosphate (Ti3PO(x)) phase evenly distributed along the grain boundaries and with local precipitations of calcium oxide (CaO). The addition of cobalt leads to the formation of TiCo intermetallide and a complex CoTiP phase. Introduction of silver and magnesium causes the formation of a silver-based solid solution. Particular attention was devoted to studying the erosive capacity of the electrode materials during the pulsed electrospark deposition (PED) onto a titanium surface. The as-deposited coatings, which were 10 μm thick with a roughness Ra = 5-6 μm, exhibited high mechanical properties, as well as a sufficiently high level of biocompatibility and bioactivity. The silver additive enabled achieving a high antibacterial effect but resulted in a small inhibitory effect of osteoblastic proliferation and differentiation.