Preparation and characterisation of titania/hydroxyapatite composite coatings obtained by sol-gel process

In the present work a titania network encapsulating a hydroxyapatite partic ulate phase is proposed as a bioceramic composite coating. The coating on a titanium substrate was produced starting from a sol containing a mixture o f titania colloidal particles and hydroxyapatite submicron particles using the dip-coating technique. The microstructure, the morphology and the surfa ce chemical composition of the coating were characterised using X-ray diffr action (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron sp ectroscopy (XPS), respectively. Adhesion tests were also performed. These a nalyses showed that the obtained coating was chemically clean, homogeneous, rough, porous, with a low thickness and well-defined phase composition as well as a good adhesion to the substrate. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. Al l rights reserved.