Wear and corrosion behaviour of electrochemically deposited bioactive haydroxyapatite coatings on implant materials

Calcium phosphate-based ceramics are attractive materials as bone substitutes in biomedical applications due to their inherent biocompatibility. They promise better properties over existing biomaterials because of their ability to promote intimate bone growth and rapid fixation. In particular, hydroxyapatite (HA) formulated as [Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2] has been recognised as a bioactive material usable as a bone substitute and bone repair material. Among several methods for preparing HA coatings, electrochemical deposition using aqueous electrolyte containing Ca and P bearing has attracted considerable attention for a decade because it is claimed to have a variety of advantages for coating fabrication, such as low process temperature, ability to deposit uniform coatings on bodies of complex shape, easy control of deposit thickness, and achieving high purity to a certain degree. In this thesis, HA coatings on 316 Stainless Steel were formed by using electrochemical deposition technique, and the wear and corrosion behaviour of these coatings were investigated. The HA deposits were characterized using, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscope with image analyser and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).