Surface analysis applied to metal-ceramic and bioceramic interfacial bonding

Full text: Low temperature plasma reactions, combined with sol-gel coatings, have been used to produce a variety of ceramic surface layers on metal substrates and interfacial layers between metals and oxides or other ceramics. These layers can be designed to be compositionally and functionally graded from the metal to bulk ceramic material, eg. silica, alumina, hydroxyapatite. The graded layers are generally <50nm thick, continuous, fully bonded to the substrate and deformable without disbonding. The objectives in design of these layers have been to produce: metal surfaces protected from oxidation, corrosion and acid attack; improved metal-ceramic bonding; and bioceramic titanium-based interfaces to bioactive hydroxyapatite for improved dental and medical implants. Modified Auger parameter studies for Si in XPS spectra show that the structure on the metal surfaces grades from amorphous, dehydroxylated silica on the outer surface through layer silicates, chain silicates, pyrosilicates to orthosilicates close to the metal interface. At the metal interface, detached grains of the metal are imaged with interpenetration of the oxide and silicate species linking the layer to the oxidised metal surface. The ∼30nm layer has a substantially increased frictional load compared with the untreated oxidised metal, i.e. behaviour consistent with either stronger adhesion of the coating to the substrate or a harder surface. The composition, structure and thickness of these layers can be controlled by the duration of each plasma reaction and the choice of the final reagent. The mechanisms of reaction in each process step have been elucidated with a combination of XPS, TOF-SIMS, TEM, SEM and FTIR. Similar, graded titanium/oxide/silicate/silica ceramic surface layers have been shown to form using the low temperature plasma reactions on titanium alloys used in medical and dental implants. Thicker (i.e. μm) overlayers of ceramic materials can be added to the graded surface layers using sol-gel deposition (e.g. silica, alumina, hydroxyapatite). Limited initial clinical testing has shown that the plasma-induced surface layer is not measurably altered in composition, structure or thickness by insertion and removal from bone under stress and load conditions similar to implantation in dental application. Copyright (1999) Australian X-ray Analytical Association Inc