Bioactive Carbonate-Hydroxyapatite Coatings Deposited onto Ti6Al4V Substrate

Calcium hydroxyapatite coatings showing bioactive properties have been deposited by a sol-gel dipping method onto Ti6Al4V alloy substrates from aqueous precursor sols. To obtain homogeneous and monophasic hydroxyapatite coatings, the aging time and temperature of the sol were, fundamentally, the variables studied. The pH measurement was a good tool to evaluate the best conditions of the sols to deposit these coatings. SEM and SFM techniques show that the coatings deposited are dense and homogeneous with a low roughness, which depends on the sol viscosity and the film thickness.