View article

This study reports on the synthesis of novel bioceramic composite coating of hydroxyapatite (HA) reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) using plasma spray technique. Fracture toughness of HA–20 wt.% Al₂O₃ improved by 158% as compared to HA coating whereas HA–18.4 wt.% Al₂O₃–1.6 wt.% CNT showed an improvement of 300%. Carbon nanotubes provided reinforcement via rebar mechanism. Human fiber osteoblast cell-growth studies showed that biocompatibility of the coating remained unaltered, as Al₂O₃ retained its bio-inertness and CNT, its bioactivity, within the composite coatings. Composite coating showed lower attachment, but higher proliferation rate, for the osteoblast cells, which has been attributed to the surface roughness. An optimized relation between coating composition, its biocompatibility and mechanical properties was established to predict the most …