Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of a silver-doped hydroxyapatite coating in simulated body fluid used as a corrosive agent

Titanium is a key biomedical material due to its good biocompatibility, mechanical properties and corrosion stability, but infections at the implantation site still pose a serious threat. One approach to prevent infection is to improve the antimicrobial ability of the coating material. Silver-doped hydroxyapatite (Ag/HAP) nanoparticles were synthesized by a new modified precipitation method. The synthesized powder was used for the preparation of Ag/HAP coating on titanium by electrophoretic deposition. The coating was characterized in terms of phase composition and structure by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR–FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD); the surface morphology and chemical composition was assessed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The research focused on an evaluation of the corrosion behaviour of Ag/HAP coating in simulated body fluid (SBF) at 37 °C during prolonged immersion time by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The silverdoped HAP coating provided good corrosion protection in SBF solution.