Sand-blasting treatment as a way to improve the adhesion strength of hydroxyapatite coating on titanium implant

In the current study, the effect of corundum particle sizes (50 and 250–320 μm) used for sand–blasting on the structure, roughness, wettability, mechanical properties, and adhesion of radio frequency magnetron hydroxyapatite coating deposited on treated titanium substrate is studied. Morphology analysis revealed that pretreatment uniformly deforms the surface and induces the formation of pits, which size depends linearly on the grit size. The deposited coatings (Ca/P was in a range of 1.75-1.79) are homogeneous and repeat the relief of the substrate (mean roughness Ra is 1.9±0.1 (250–320 μm) and 0.8±0.1 μm (50 μm)). Texture coefficient calculations revealed the predominant (002) growth texture of hydroxyapatite coatings. The resistance of the coating to plastic deformation and the surface hardening were significantly higher for coatings formed on sand blasted with particle size of 50 μm. Scratch test have shown the significant improvement of wear resistance and lower friction coefficient of coatings for smoother samples. Dynamic contact angle measurements revealed the hydrophilic properties of the hydroxyapatite coating. Thus, sand–blasting of titanium with corundum powder having the size of 50 μm prior to the deposition of RF magnetron coating is recommended for the medical applications intended to improve the bonding between the substrate and coating. (paper)