Abstract
Osteoporosis and traffic accident are major factor that causes bone fracture in Indonesia. One of solution for the bones fracture treatment is by using fixation implant that has similar characteristics with the human bones. Stainless Steel (SS) 316L is one of biomaterial that has been used as an implant material due to its corrosion resistance, good biocompatibility, and excellent mechanical properties. However, the bioactivity properties of the material is needed to improve by coating it with hydroxyapatite (HA). In this research, HA was coated to the surface of 316L SS by using investment casting technique. A slurry of HA was poured into casting cavity surface prior to metal casting process, and then followed by sintering at temperatures of 850oC, 900oC, and 950oC. Characterization of HA coating layer on specimen surface was conducted by Optical Microscope, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX). Hardness of the samples was measured by Vickers Hardness Tester. Result of the experiment shows that the invvestment casting is successfully to coat the HA on the SS 316L surface. Pouring method produces HA layer with thickness (spongy and porous surface) in the range of 60 µm - 110 µm. The increasing of sintering temperature increases the hardness number of the surfaces, and affect the purity of HA, but it is not related to coating thickness. Optimum sintering temperature is obtained at 900oC which produces the best calcium and phosphate ratio. The investment casting method is found as a simple and non-expensive technique that can be used to coat HA powder to SS 316L that produces good properties and optimum crystallinity of HA that suitable for orthopedic implant application.
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