PRODUCTION OF BIOCOMPATIBLE COATINGS BY ATMOSPHERIC PLASMA SPRAYING

This work deals with the formation of biocompatible coatings on implants such as artificial hips or teeth. Various techniques improving the bond between the natural bone and the implant to extend lifetime and to improve performance have been developed in the past. One of the most modern and successful developments has been air plasma spraying of apatite materials such as hydroxyapatite and fluorapatite to functional biocompatible coatings on implants. In addition to the plasma powder itself the parameters of the air plasma spraying process need to be optimized carefully in order to suppress chemical dissolution, especially in the case of hydroxyapatite. In doing so air-plasma-sprayed coatings of different apatite materials were optimized and evaluated. It could be shown that high quality coatings of hydroxyapatite and fluorapatite can be obtained by air plasma spraying. By using optimized plasma spray powders and optimized air plasma spray process parameters it is possible to process coatings with the right chemistry in the deposit and bond strength sufficiently high to be used in clinical cases.