Coating of strontium substituted hydroxyapatite on surface treated surgical grade stainless steel by electrodeposition for biomedical applications

Surgical grade stainless steel (316L SS) is one of the widely used implant material in orthopedic surgeries. But often the release of metal ions is evidenced from the implants and subsequently a second surgery is required to remove the implant material. One way to control the release of metal ions is to coat the implant material with a biocompatible material like hydroxyapatite (HAp). Strontium (Sr) salts were found to stimulate bone formation and inhibit bone resorption both in vitro and in vivo. The present work deals with the electrodeposition (ED) of Sr substituted hydroxyapatite (SrHAp) on the HNO3+H2SO4 treated 316L stainless steel (316L SS) at a current density of 2 mA/cm 2 for different durations like 15 min, 30 min and 45 min. The resultant coatings were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM results revealed that the Sr-Hap coating obtained on the surface treated 316L SS by electrodeposition for 30 min consists of nanorods of dimension ranging from 50 to 75 nm.