Biomimetic hydroxyapatite grown on biomedical polymer coated with titanium dioxide interlayer to assist osteocompatible performance

A widely utilized spinal implant material, polyetheretherketone (PEEK), with its bio-inert and hydrophobic surface was persistently paid attention for bioactive surface modification. Hydroxyapatite (HAp), exhibiting excellent osteoconductive property, has also been regarded as a promising candidate for biomedical applications. The present study employed an arc ion plating (AIP) technique to respectively deposit rutile-rich titanium dioxide (R-TiO2) and anatase-rich titanium dioxide (A-TiO2) as an interlayer onto PEEK substrates for inducing HAp layer growth in simulated body fluid (SBF) at low temperature. Consequently, this materials are expected to promote osteoblast compatibility for PEEK to be used as spinal implants. For comparison, microstructure characterization of the as-grown HAp are examined and growth mechanism is proposed. Finally, osteocompatibility test are carried out to evaluate the effect of HAp grown on the TiO2-coated PEEK specimens.