Mechanical Properties and Dissolution Behavior of Plasma Sprayed Wollastonite Coatings Deposited at Different Substrate Temperatures

Abstract

The effect of substrate temperature on the microstructure, mechanical properties and dissolution behavior of wollastonite coatings is investigated. The crystallinity of as-deposited coatings increases with increasing substrate temperature, whereas the porosity shows only a little variable tendency. The Knoop hardness and elastic modulus increase with the substrate temperature up to 400 °C firstly, and then a decrement is observed with the temperature further increasing to 600 °C. The dissolution rate characterized by the pH changes and the ion concentration changes of Ca, Si and P in SBF decreases with the increase in the substrate temperature. It can be concluded that increasing the substrate temperature is a feasible method to improve the mechanical properties and to decrease the dissolution rate of wollastonite coatings. However, the bioactivity of coatings deposited on preheated substrates is superior to those on non-preheated ones, which presumably results from their different phase compositions.