Surface Modification of Implant Materials by Spraying Technology

Abstract

Surface treatment is widely applied to industrial products as a method of improving the properties of material surfaces. Plasma spraying is a surface treatment method that allows a wide range of material selection and enables the formation of ceramics and plastics, as well as metals. On the other hand, implant materials are substitute materials to supplement a damaged human body. Typical examples are artificial knee joints, artificial hip joints and artificial tooth roots. In this study, we applied the plasma spraying technique to implant materials and evaluated the coated surface. The results of the experiment are as follows: (1) The surface treated by the improved plasma spraying had a good film with low porosity and the adhesion was improved compared with that by the conventional plasma spraying. (2) The results of absorbance measurement showed that the hydroxyapatite (HAp)–sprayed specimen has higher absorbance than that of the general treatment applied to implant materials. The biocompatibility is expected to be good.