Adhesion of bioactive glass coating to Ti6Al4V oral implant

Bioactive glass (BAG) is a bioactive material with a high potential as implant material. Reactive plasma spraying produces an economically feasible BAG-coating for Ti6Al4V oral implants. This coating is only functional if it adheres well to the metal substrate and if it is strong enough to transfer all loads. To examine these two properties an appropriate mechanical adhesion test, the moment test, is developed. This test quantifies under a realistic loading condition the corresponding functional adhesion strength to be >84 MPa in tensile. To get a qualitative insight in the BAG-coating behavior during loading the mechanical test was combined with finite element analysis, acoustic emission and microscopic analysis. These analyses showed that the coating withstands without any damage an externally generated tensile stress of 47 MPa. Not only the initial adhesion is determining for the implant quality, but more important is the coating functionality after reaction of the BAG. Adhesion testing after two months of in vitro reaction in a simulated body fluid showed that coating adhesion strength decreased with 10%, but the implant system was still adequate for load-bearing applications.