Surface modification of Al2O3 bioceramic by NH2+ ion implantation

Ion implantation technique was applied to graft the -NH2 amidogen radicals onto the surface of Al2O3 bioceramic. Fourier transform infrared spectrosco py (FTIR) was used to confirm the presence of the implanted radicals on the Al2O3 ceramic surface. It was found that the amount of grafted amidogen ra dicals was proportional to the dosage of NH2+ ions used during the ion impl antation. Furthermore, when implantation energy of 100 keV was used, maximu m amount of -NH2 radicals would be grafted on the Al2O3 ceramic surface. Th e biocompatibility of the implanted Al2O3 ceramic was also investigated, an d the results indicate that the implanted surface has better biocompatibili ty with animal bone tissue than the plain ceramic surface. (C) 1999 Elsevie r Science Ltd. All rights reserved.