In situ synthesis of hydroxyapatite coating by laser cladding

HA bioceramic coatings were synthesized on titanium substrate by laser cladding using cheap calcium carbonate and calcium hydrogen phosphate. The thermodynamic condition for synthesizing HA was calculated by software Matlab 5.0, the microstructure and phase analysis of laser clad HA bioceramic coatings were studied by electron probe microanalyser (EPMA), X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The theoretical results show that the Gibbs free enthalpy for the synthesis of HA phase is satisfied, and the presence of HA phase in the clad coatings was then further verified by XRD and the selected area diffraction patterns. When the laser power is 600 W and the scanning speed is 3.5 mm/s, the compact HA bioceramic coatings were obtained, which have cellular dendritic structure and consist of the phases of HA, alpha-Ca2P2O7, CaO and CaTiO3. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.