The concept of biological fixation of artificial joint prosthesis by using bioactive calcium phosphate coatings has generated considerable interest in recent decades. This paper reports an electrochemical route for fabricating hydroxyapatite (HA), carbonated-HA and fluoridated-HA coatings on porous and non-porous substrates at relatively low temperatures, using aqueous electrolytes. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared spectroscopy (IR) were used to characterize the morphology, structure and chemical composition of the coatings. The results suggest that the electrochemical route for the fabrication of bioactive calcium phosphate coatings may offer significant advantages over the currently used methods.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Ultrafine-grained, nanophase coatings of hydroxyapatite were synthesized by electrocrystallization from dilute electrolytes ([Ca]=6.1 x 10-4 M, [phosphate]=3.6 x 10-4 M) at pH values comparable with the biological pH. At these comparatively low supersaturations, hydroxyapatite is shown to be precipitated without the formation of a precursor phase. A description of the sequence of events occurring at the electrode-electrolyte interface is given to explain the mechanism involved in the direct formation of nanophase hydroxyapatite on polarized electrodes.