Self-assembled structures of hydroxyapatite in the biomimetic coating on a bioinert ceramic substrate

The tribological properties of alumina ceramic are excellent due in part to a high wettability because of the hydrophilic surface and fluid film lubrication that minimizes the adhesive wear. Such surfaces are further modified with bioactive glass/ceramic coating to promote direct bone apposition in orthopedic applications. The present communication reports the biomimetic coating of calcium hydroxyapatite (HAp) on dense (2–3% porosity) alumina (α-Al2O3) substrate (1 cm × 1 cm × 0.5 cm), at 37 °C. After a total period of 6 days immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF), at 37 °C, linear self-assembled porous (pore size: ∼0.2 μm) structures (length: ∼375.39 μm and width: 5–6 μm) of HAp were obtained. The phenomenon has been demonstrated by self-assembly and diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) principles. Structural and compositional characterization of the coating was carried out using SEM with EDX facility, XRD and FT-IR data.