Characterization and formation mechanism of nano-structured hydroxyapatite coatings deposited by the liquid precursor plasma spraying process.

Abstract

Nano-structured hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings were deposited on the Ti-6Al-4V alloy substrate by the liquid precursor plasma spraying (LPPS) process. The thermal behavior of the HA liquid precursor was analyzed to interpret the phase change and structure transformation during the formation process of the nano-structured HA coatings. The phase composition, structure and morphology of the nano-structured HA coatings were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The XRD spectra showed that the coatings deposited by the LPPS process mainly consisted of the HA phase and the crystallite size was measured to be 5..