Synthesis of Co-Cr-Mo/ fluorapatie nano-composite coating by pulsed laser depositionfor dental applications

Abstract

Metallic materials play an essential role in assisting with the repair or replacement of bone tissue that has become diseased or damaged. Metals are more suitable for load bearing applications compared to ceramics or polymeric materials due to high mechanical strength and fracture toughness that are exhibited by metallic materials. However, the main limitation in the application of these metallic materials is the release of the toxic metallic ions. The release of these ions is caused by the interaction of metallic materials with human body fluids. These ions react with body tissue, which might lead to various adverse tissue reactions and/or hypersensitivity reactions. Cobalt-chromium-molybdenum (Co-Cr-Mo) alloys are one of the most useful alloys for biomedical applications such as dental and orthopedic implants because of acceptable mechanical properties and biocompatibility. However, the use of these alloys in biomedical applications has of late come under scrutiny recently due to unacceptable revision rates of applications such as hip resurfacing and total hip arthroplasty designs. Failure analysis has demonstrated that solid and soluble wear debris and corrosion products resulted. This release of ions from the joints has resulted in adverse local tissue reactions. Laser-aided deposition is a material additive based manufacturing process via metallurgically bonding the deposited material to the substrate. Due to its capability to bond various materials together, it became an attractive technology. The principal aims of this study were to 1a) fabricate nanocomposite materials by depositing fluorapatite nanopowder onto the Co-Cr-Mo dental alloy using pulsed laser deposition and 1b) evaluate which laser beam energy and layer thickness, based on the exposure time period, would be applicable, and 2) evaluate bioactivity properties on biological material.