ELECTRODEPOSITION OF CALCIUM PHOSPHATE COATINGS ON POROUS TITANIUM FOR USE IN SURGICAL IMPLANTS

摘要

During recent years there has been considerable interest in switching from solid implants to ones constructed from porous materials. Unfortunately, the corrosion resistance of porous titanium is much poorer than its solid counter part, with most of the corrosion occurring in the pores. Usually, protective coatings are not suitable for load bearing implants as these are subjected to wear. However, wear is not an issue within the porous matrix so the use of protective coatings to solve the corrosion problems of porous titanium is attractive. However, the coating must be a biocompatible one, such as the calcium hydroxyl-phosphate known as hydroxyapatite (HA), and it has to be deposited within the pore. Results based on impedance experiments are presented that show that electrochemically deposited calcium phosphate coatings can significantly reduce the corrosion rate of porous titanium in simulated body fluids.