In vitro bioactivity and antibacterial performances of atmospheric plasma sprayed c-axis preferential oriented hydroxyapatite coatings

Abstract

Atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) is widely used in the fabrication of hydroxyapatite (HA) coating due to the advantages of low-cost, simple operation and it can be used to fabricate coatings with controllable structure. Despite all these advantages, the application of APS deposited HA coating for long-term use is limited by its low crystallinity, low phase purity and poor antibacterial property efficiency. Herein, HA coatings with high crystallinity, phase purity and c-axis crystalline orientation were fabricated by APS. In vitro cell, culture testing suggested that the c-axis oriented HA coating was more effective to promote the proliferation of osteoblasts cells compared with other coatings. The antibacterial activity of HA coating against the bacteria indicated that the c-axis oriented HA coating restrained the bacterial adhesion, and the antibacterial effect of the E. coli bacteria was more pronounced than that of the S. epidermidis bacteria. This study suggests that the HA coatings with the specific c-axis crystalline orientation are available for their potential applications for orthopedic and dental implantation.