Electrophoretic Deposition of Bioactive Glass Coatings on Ti12Mo5Ta Alloy

Abstract

Titanium alloys used in orthopedic surgery are usually coated with hydroxyapatite to improve their biocompatibility and osseointegration. Bioactive glasses (BGs) are an interesting alternative to hydroxyapatite for the production of prosthetic coatings due to their osteoproductive property (Class A bioactivity) and to their resorbability. However the classical techniques used to obtain prosthetic coatings are not suitable in the case of BGs. In this study bioactive glass coatings are obtained by electrophoretic deposition on a Ti12Mo5Ta alloy. These coatings were obtained from ethanol suspensions of two different bioglass powders: a Sol-Gel derived 58S and a Melting-Quenching derived 46S. Scanning electron microscopy observations were used to characterize the coatings (morphology and thickness) and the coating/substrate interfaces. The chemical composition of the coatings was studied by X-ray microanalysis and X-ray maps were performed to characterize the spatial distributions of all elements composing the coatings.