Characterization of Hydroxyapatite Coated Mg for Biomedical Applications

Magnesium (Mg) and its alloys have showed a promising potential for medical implant applications due to their attractive biocompatibility and mechanical strength. Despite these promising properties, the critical challenge with Mg-based implants is rapid degradation in physiological environment that results in early loss of mechanical strength and hydrogen gas accumulation at the local site. Hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings provide a sound solution for controlling Mg degradation at the bone interface. In this paper, HA coatings with different particle sizes, namely, microHA (mHA) and nanoHA (nHA), were deposited on Mg plates and rods with two different pressures using N2 Biomedical’s proprietary deposition process called IonTite^TM. Surface characterization of the deposited layers showed mHA coated Mg prepared at high pressure had more homogeneous HA particles distribution with less defects.