The effects of silver ion implantation on structural and morphological performance of hydroxyapatite coatings

Abstract

Hydroxyapatite coating composed of hexagonal rods are modified with silver ions to improve their antibacterial activity. The coatings are irradiated at room temperature using 15 keV Ag+ ion source and three different ion doses up to 6 × 1016 ions/cm2. Morphological and structural changes in the crystal structure of hydroxyapatite are followed as a function of Ag+ ion dose using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and the Raman spectroscopy. We observed that implantation did not produce any morphological changes in crystals. Based on the X-ray diffraction data, we show that lattice constant of hydroxyapatite remains unchanged for all samples irrespective of the Ag+ ion dose. However, ion-induced defects formation is evidenced by detailed X-ray diffraction line profile analysis and broadening of the diffraction maxima with increasing Ag+ ion dose.