Characterization and stability of hydroxyapatite coatings prepared by an electrodeposition and alkaline-treatment process.

Hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings on titanium alloy substrates were prepared by an alkaline treatment of electrodeposited precursors. The structure, residual stress, and bond strength of the coatings were investigated. Test results showed that the coatings processed in this study exhibited fairly low tensile residual stress, high crystallinity, and were free of an amorphous phase. The bond strength of the coatings increased with the decrease of current density in the range of 0.2-15 mA/cm(2), and reached 14 MPa at 0.2 mA/cm(2). Evaluation of the coatings was performed together with the evaluation of the plasma-sprayed HA coatings immersed in distilled water. It was revealed that the dissolution and bond strength degradation of the coatings were much lower than those of the plasma-sprayed HA coatings. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.