Hydrothermal nucleation of hydroxyapatite on titanium surface

Titanium plates were submitted to nucleation and growth of hydroxyapatite (HAp) under hydrothermal conditions. A group of these plates were submitted to nucleation without any previous treatment and another group was treated with NaOH 1 M at 130°C inside an autoclave followed by heat-treatment at 600°C. The nucleation were performed by soaking all these titanium pieces, in a simulated body fluid (SBF) solution, containing calcium, phosphate and other ions, in order to promote the nucleation and growth of hydroxyapatite under hydrothermal conditions on the titanium surface. The results show that hydrothermal nucleation and growth of HAp occurs even on the non-treated titanium surface at 150°C. However, a better uniformity of the hydroxyapatite layer was observed on the pre-treated titanium surface, at 80°C, with the renewal of the SBF solution.