Porous ZrO2 bone scaffold coated with hydroxyapatite with fluorapatite intermediate layer

Highly porous zirconia (ZrO2) bone scaffolds, fabricated by a replication technique using polymeric sponge, were coated with hydroxyapatite (HA). To prevent the chemical reactions between ZrO2 and HA, an intermediate fluorapatite (FA) layer was introduced. The strength of the porous ZrO2 was higher than that of pure HA by a factor of 7, suggesting the feasibility of ZrO2 porous scaffolds as load-bearing part applications. The coated HA/FA layer, with a thickness of about 30 μm, was firmly adhered to the ZrO2 body with a bonding strength of 22 MPa. The osteoblast-like cells were attached and spread well on the coating layer throughout the porous scaffolds. The alkaline phosphatase activity of the proliferated cells on the HA/FA coated ZrO2 was comparable to that on pure HA and higher than that on pure ZrO2.