Biomimetic Coating of Mechanochemically Synthesized Zirconium Titanate

Abstract

A biomimetic method was used to promote bioactivity of ZrTiO 4 . 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 ZrTiO 4 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 ZrTiO 4 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.