PREPARATION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF CO-DOPED HYDROXYAPATITE BIOMIMETIC COATINGS ON PRETREATED Ti6Al4V ALLOY

In this study, bismuth + carbonate co-doped and pure hydroxyapatites (HAp) were coated on rough surfaces of Ti6Al4V plates by biomimetic method. Prepared samples were investigated with SEM, EDS, FTIR, XRD and ICP. Furthermore, mechanical scratch tests, profilometer tests and in vitro cell studies were carried out. In order to explore the antibacterial characteristics of the coating, the survival rate of a bacteria named Staphylococcus epidermidis was determined. Structural investigations showed that HAp nucleation began four days after the immersion, expectedly nucleation developed collaterally with the incubation period and co-dopants had considerable effect on surface characteristics. Besides, the pretreatment procedure and dopants had notable impact on mechanical qualifications of the coatings. The critical load values obtained for coating failure were detected above 100 mN in all types of coatings (max. critical load was obtained from 0.3 mM co-doped coatings). Cancerous bone cells (SaOS-2) on prepared coatings were evaluated in terms of biological properties. 0.1-C7 and 0.3-C7 exhibited highest reduction percentage among all co-doped samples. Further increase in dopants concentrations up to 0.5 mM lead to increase in toxicity and decrease in cell proliferation. Antibacterial test results showed the most antibacterial samples were 0.1-C7 and 0.3-C7, the results conformed with cell culture findings.