Characterization of Titanium coating (Ti) with Poly (tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) deposited by Flame Spray

Improving prosthesis performance used as orthopedic and orthodontic implants has been a trend in recent years. Though there is still space for improvements, due to the implant loss and high failure rate. An alternative to accomplish such refinement is the surface modification in the form of coating. Thus, a coating powder mixture composed of titanium (Ti cp) with Poly(tetrafluoroethene) (PTFE) were deposited by Flame Spray process using argon as the transport gas. A coating for a traditional biomaterial (SS316L stainless steel) was produced to obtain the required characteristics for some types of invasive devices, such as tribological behavior, corrosive resistance and osseointegration improvement should be ensured. All coatings were deposited with an average thickness of 200 μm. Samples were coated and subjected to in vitro assay Hanks' Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS) for 21 days. The characterization was performed by the SEM-EDS, XRD, Zeta potential and microhardness. Results of the analysis revealed that, with increase in fluorine (F) on the microstructure, caused by an increase in PTFE, improvement for osseointegration condition, evidenced by dissolution and precipitation of apatite compounds (Ca, P and O) occurred in surface. Surface characteristics confirmed the potential of Ti-(PTFE) coatings for use in implants.