Biomimetic coating of mechanochemically synthesized zirconium titanate

Abstract

A biomimetic method was used to promote bioactivity of ZrTiO4. Zirconium titanate was obtained by using a combination of techniques such as mechanical milling and heat treatment of zirconia and titania powders. The effect of milling time on the evolution of the ZrTiO4 phase formation was studied. Powders were uniaxially pressed followed by heat treatment for 6 h at different temperatures within the range between 700 and 1500 ºC. Single phase ZrTiO4 was obtained after ball-milling for 30 h followed heat treating in air at 1500 ºC for 6 h. For the biomimetic coatings were obtained by immersion of the samples in a simulated body fluid (SBF) for 7, 14 and 21 days on a bed of wollastonite powder, and were characterized by SEM, EDS, XRD, FT-IR and TEM. For comparison purposes, experiments were also performed without using the bioactive powder bed. A bone-like apatite layer was formed on zirconium titanate after 21 days of immersion in SBF using a bed of wollastonite powder.