Synthesis and Suspension Plasma Spraying of Hydroxyapatite Fine Powder

The synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA, Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂) is a very useful biomaterial for numerous applications in medicine, especially in view of using as fine powder for suspension plasma spraying. The powder was synthesized using aqueous solution of ammonium phosphate (H₂(PO₄)NH₄) and calcium nitrate (Ca(NO₃).4H₂O) in carefully controlled experiments. The synthesized fine powder was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The powder was formulated into water and alcohol based suspension and used to carry out the initial tests of plasma spraying onto titanium substrate. The phase analysis of sprayed coating was made with the used of XRD.