Preparation and properties of plasma sprayed strontium-doped calcium polyphosphate coating for bone tissue engineering

The purpose of this study was to scale-up the usage of strontium-doped calcium polyphosphate (SCPP) to major load-bearing applications in bone substitute application. SCPP powders were used to prepare biological coatings on titanium (Ti) substrates by plasma-spraying under a series of different conditions. Microstructure and bonding strength (with titanium substrates) of the SCPP coatings were investigated by an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer, X-ray diffraction analysis, a scanning electron microscope and a strength test machine. The results showed the main crystal type of coating remained β-crystal SCPP. The surface and cross-sectional morphologies of coatings showed that the SCPP coatings were fairly dense. The bonding strength between the SCPP and Ti was higher than normal plasma spraying coatings. Furthermore, the research on the interactions between ROS17/2.5 cells and various SCPP coatings-Ti substrates indicated that the coating-implants possessed good cytocompatibility with osteoblasts. Therefore, SCPP is considered to be a biological coating material with good prospect in clinical application.