Characterization of coating produced on titanium surface by a designed solution containing calcium and phosphate ions

The biomimetic process of coating metals has been used to transform bioinert surfaces into bioactive ones. Simulated body fluid (SBF) has been classically used and has a composition similar to that of body fluid. The solution we used also has a composition closely similar to that of body fluid and is less complex than SBF. In this work, titanium surfaces were coated with a designed simplified solution whose chemical composition is based on the ions necessary to form calcium phosphates, e.g., calcium and phosphate ions in aqueous medium. This fluid was called solution for bioactivity evaluation (SBE). Besides the advantage of having a less complex composition, SBE presents fast deposition when compared with conventional SBF. We characterized the calcium phosphate layer by using grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. A uniform coating layer with 15 mu m thickness was obtained after 7 days of soaking in this simplified solution. This coating exhibited low-dense morphology and a single-phase octacalcium phosphate (OCP) structure. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.