Excellent stability of plasma-sprayed bioactive Ca3ZrSi2O9 ceramic coating on Ti–6Al–4V

In this work, novel zirconium incorporated Ca–Si based ceramic powder Ca3ZrSi2O9 was synthesized. The aim of this study was to fabricate Ca3ZrSi2O9 coating onto Ti–6Al–4V substrate using atmospheric plasma-spraying technology and to evaluate its potential applications in the fields of orthopedics and dentistry. The phase composition, surface morphologies of the coating were examined by XRD and SEM, which revealed that the Ca3ZrSi2O9 coating was composed of grains around 100 nm and amorphous phases. The bonding strength between the coating and the substrate was 28 ± 4 MPa, which is higher than that of traditional HA coating. The dissolution rate of the coating was assessed by monitoring the ions release and mass loss after immersion in the Tris–HCl buffer solution. The in vitro bioactivity of the coating was determined by observing the formation of apatite on its surface in simulated body fluids. It was found that the Ca3ZrSi2O9 coating possessed both excellent chemical stability and good apatite-formation ability, suggesting its potential use as bone implants.