Electrophoretic coating of hydroxyapatite on titanium implants

Electrophoretic deposition was applied to obtain hydroxyapatite coatings on titanium implants. A joint intermediate layer of silica or calcium-silica by dip-withdrawing technique was placed directly on the titanium sheet and hardened by heating. Then, the sample was coated with hydroxyapatite by ele ctrophoresis from the ethanol suspension. It was found that the electrodepo sition combined with formation of the joint layer could be successfully emp loyed to covering of the medical metal implants with apatite coatings. Impr ovement of their usefulness is connected with formation of silica and titan ia compounds in the interface region. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All ri ghts reserved.