Electrodeposition of porous hydroxyapatite/calcium silicate composite coating on titanium for biomedical applications

A novel method of electrolytic porous hydroxyapatite/calcium silicate (HA/CaSiO3) composite coating was conducted on pure titanium in a mixed solution of nano-SiO2, Ca(NO3)2 and NH4H2PO4. SEM observation showed that the composite layer was porous, thereby providing abundant sites for the osteoblast adhesion. XRD results showed that the composite coating was mainly composed of HA and CaSiO3. Bond strength testing exhibited that HA-CaSiO3/Ti had higher bond strength than HA/Ti. The HA/CaSiO3 coating was more corrosion resistant than the HA coating based on the polarization tests. In vitro cell experiments demonstrated that both the HA and HA/CaSiO3 coatings showed better cell response than the bared titanium. In addition, the proliferation of MC3T3-E1 osteoblast cells grown on the HA/CaSiO3 coating were remarkably higher than those on the bared Ti and pure HA coating.