Hydroxyapatite coating of polyelectrolite hydrogels by means of the biomimetic method

Polyelectrolite hydrogels were submitted to the biomimetic method. The experimental results clearly show that the method has coated them with HA globular crystals of ∼500 nm in diameter. Moreover, the method strongly influences the swelling of the hydrogels. The results strongly suggest that a biologically active HA layer forms also on the surface of the internal pores. Therefore, it is a powerful method for producing micro- and nano-patterned structures of biologically active apatite on the surface of hydrogels and of their pores.