Articles you may be interested inSynthesis of graphene-based Pt nanoparticles by a one-step in situ plasma approach under mild conditions Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, 033103 (2012); 10.1063/1.4737421 Development of heparin-coated magnetic nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery applications Improvement of bond strength of plasma-sprayed hydroxyapatite/titanium composite coatings on titanium: Partial nitriding of titanium deposits by rf thermal plasma In vitro nucleation of apatite was studied on surface-modified Ti coatings prepared by reactive plasma spraying ͑RPS͒. The in situ surface modification of Ti particles was conducted by making use of plasma-enhanced reactions between the Ti particles and the reactive gaseous species in the plasma flame during RPS. Surface-modified Ti coatings were deposited on Ti substrates by rf-RPS using a thermal plasma of Ar gas containing 1%-6% N 2 and/or 1%-6% O 2 . As a means of surface modification, Ti powders impregnated with 0.05-0.2 mol % Ca were also sprayed. Compositional changes in the coatings' surface after soaking in simulated body fluid ͑SBF͒ were evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thin-film x-ray diffraction analyses ͑TF-XRD͒. The Ti coatings prepared with Ar-O 2 and Ar-N 2 -O 2 plasma formed bone-like apatite after three days of soaking in SBF. On the other hand, no compositional change was observed in the surface of the Ti coatings sprayed with Ar-N 2 plasma, even after seven days of soaking in SBF. In the TF-XRD patterns for the Ti coatings sprayed with oxygen-containing plasma, TiO 2 ͑anatase and rutile phase͒ were commonly observed. In SBF tests, we observed a retardation of apatite deposition for the Ca-added Ti coatings prepared with Ar-O 2 and Ar-N 2 -O 2 plasmas. Analyses by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that the Ca impregnated in the RPS-Ti coatings formed a Ca-O compound.