Plasma Electrolytic Oxide Coatings for Biomedical Applications

Plasma electrolytic oxide (PEO) coatings are oxide-based conversion coatings of a substrate alloy but they can also include co-deposited material from the electrolyte.  Thus, while they are well adhered and offer uniform coverage of complex shapes, they can also be readily tailored in terms of composition and microstructure, notably to give titanium oxide surfaces of various different phase compositions and pore structures.  They have a history of being used to promote tissue adhesion to the surface of titanium implants.  Recent developments in the technology offer scope for further optimisation of the coatings for such applications and demand detailed characterisation and testing.  This talk provides an introduction to the PEO process and its biomedical applications.