Abstract:
The anodization of titanium involves the formation of a thin, dense and compact, oxide layer. In
this process the rutile structure of the original titanium oxide is converted into an anatase
structure. It is this anatase structure and how it influences the bonding properties of the sol gel
coating of hydroxyapatite (HAp) was the main aim of this research project.
The titanium samples were anodized in phosphoric acid (H3P04) at varying concentrations with
one solution utilizing sulphuric acid (H2S04) in addition to the phosphoric acid. The samples
were also anodized at 3 different voltages, l2V, 15V and 20Volts for 30 minutes. Both anodized
and unanodized samples were spin coated with alkoxide-derived hydroxyapatite and examined
with x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.
The samples anodized utilizing a mixture of phosphoric acid (H3P04)1 sulphuric acid (H2S04)
solution were found to produce a more adherent and homogenous HAp coated surface. It is
envisaged that this improved anodizing technique could aid the generation of more effective
HAp coatings on titanium and titanium alloy orthopaedic and dental implants.
