Electrophoretic deposition of collagen-reinforced HA/CTS biocomposite coatings

In this study, the biomimetic approach described as reverse engineering by trying to copy the excellent concepts of nature and taking nature as a model has been used. In order to mimic the structure of natural bone, hydroxyapatite (HA), chitosan (CTS) and collagen have been combined as a novel type of biocomposite coating. HA/CTS/collagen biocomposite coatings have been successfully electrophoretically deposited on Ti6Al4V biomedical implants. A novel type of a polyelectrolyte consisting of ethanol, water and isopropyl alcohol has been used for the electrophoretic deposition process. The effect of collagen concentration on the structural and corrosion protection performance of the biocomposite coatings has been investigated by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, potentiodynamic polarization (Tafel extrapolation) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques. The electrophoretically deposited HA/CTS/collagen biocomposite coatings have exhibited corrosion protection against simulated physiological body fluid up to five times better than that of bare Ti6Al4V alloy.