Microstructure, hardness and biocompatibility properties of ceramic based coatings produced by plasma spray method

Abstract

Ceramic materials with excellent mechanical, corrosion and abrasion resistance is set in terms of features such as biomaterials. In this study, Al2O3, Al2O3-40% TiO2, ZrO2 - 8% Y2O3 and Cr2O3-2% TiO2 ceramic coatings were produced by plasma spraying on AISI 316L stainless steel surface. It was aimed to investigate microstructure, hardness and biocompatibility properties of coatings. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis and X-ray diffraction (XRD) phase analysis were used to determine the microstructure and phase composition properties. The biocompatibility properties of coatings have been tried to be determined by analyzing cytotoxicity and viability. The SEM images show that the ceramic coatings are connected in accordance with the substrate. The XRD analyzes show the formation of binary and ternary complex phases in the coating layers. Cr2O3-2% TiO2 coating has the highest hardness in the coating layers. Biocompatibility tests reveal the most compatible and consistent results in terms of cytotoxicity were obtained with Al2O3-40% TiO2 coating.