Development and characterization of nano-TiO2/HA composite bioceramic coating on titanium surface

This research is aimed at the development and characterization of a novel bioceramic coating on the surface of pure titanium. Nano-TiO2/HA composite bioceramic coating was designed and developed on the surfaces of pure titanium discs by sol-gel route. The TiO2 anatase bioceramic coating was employed as the inner layer, which could adhere tightly to the titanium substrate. The porous HA bioceramic coating was employed as the outer layer., which has higher solubility and better short term bioactivity. Conventional HA coatings and commercially pure titanium (cpTi) were taken as control. XRD and SEM were employed to characterize the crystallization, surface morphology and thickness of the coatings. The bioactivities of the coatings were evaluated by the in vitro osteoblasts culture. Results show the nano-TiO2/HA composite bioceramic coating has good crystallization and homogeneous, nano-scale surface morphology. And it adheres tightly to the substrate. The in vitro osteoblasts culture exhibits satisfactory bioactivity.