Surface and mechanical properties of a nanostructured citrate hydroxyapatite coating on pure titanium.

The presence of a biomimetic HAP coating on titanium surface, which reduces the structural stiffness, is essential to improve implants biocompatibility and osteointegration. In this study, new citrate-HAP (cHAP) coatings were produced by a simple hydrothermal method on pure titanium (Ti) surface, without requiring any additional pretreatment on this metal surface. The formed cHAP coatings consisting of nanorod-like hydroxyapatite particles, conferred nanoroughness and wettability able to endow improved biological responses.