Study of hydroxyapatite/Al2O3 (anodic) biocomposite coating on titanium with a novel multi-step method

A novel hydroxyapatite/Al2O3 (anodic) biocomposite coating has been successfully fabricated on titanium using a multi-step technique including physical vapor deposition (PVD), anodization, electrodeposition and hydrothermal treatment. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were employed to investigate morphologies and compositions of the pre- and post-hydrothermally treated hydroxyapatite/Al2O3 (anodic) biocomposite coatings. The results showed that plate-like Ca-deficient hydroxyapatite coating was directly elctrodeposited onto anodic Al2O3 at a constant current density of 2.0 mA/cm2 using NaH2PO4 as the phosphorous source. The plate-like Ca-deficient hydroxyapatite was converted into network-like Ca-rich hydroxyapatite after hydrothermal treatment.