Functionally graded carbon nanotubes/hydroxyapatite composite coating by laser cladding

Functionally graded carbon nanotubes/hydroxyapatite (CNTs/HA) composite coatings have been fabricated by laser cladding technique using CNTs/HA composite powders. As the feedstock for laser deposition, CNTs/HA composite powders were prepared by ball-milling different weight ratios (1%, 3% and 5%) of CNTs with HA powders. CNTs/HA composite coatings were fabricated with CNTs/HA composite powders and functionally graded coating was fabricated by sequentially depositing different CNTs/HA composite coatings on pure titanium. The phase composition, microstructure, micro-hardness, bonding strength and in vitro cellular responses of the composite coatings and the functionally graded composite coating were studied. The results show that the crystallinity of CNTs/HA composite coatings increased with increasing amount of CNTs in the powder mixture. The CNTs were dispersed homogeneously in the coatings to form an interconnected web and the cylinder graphic structure of CNTs was not changed after laser irradiation. Compared with pure HA coating, the maximum increase of the micro-hardness of CNTs/HA composite coatings was 46.8% and the micro-hardness of the functionally graded coating increased gradually through the thickness of this coating. Furthermore, the bonding strength of the functionally graded coating was nearly twice higher than that of pure HA coating. The in vitro cellular biocompatibility tests reveal that the functionally graded composite coating has comparable in vitro bioactivity with pure HA coating.