Fabrication and characterization of nano prism-like hydroxyapatite coating on porous titanium substrate by combined biomimetic-hydrothermal method

Crystalline hydroxyapatite (HAP) was successfully coated on titanium substrate via a combined biomimetic-hydrothermal method, throughout all synthesis processes were simply chemical-treated under a moderate condition while the highest temperature would not exceed 180°C. Biomimetic mineralization was applied to provide the seeded layer, which was prerequisite and facilitated the subsequent hydrothermal growth, while hydrothermal process promoted the nucleation and crystal growth, finally the phase-pure and high crystalline nano prism-like HAP was achieved well-arrayed onto titanium surface with a multi-level structure. Furthermore, this way combined biomimetic-hydrothermal method could be easily extended as a universal technique for surface modification and coating fabrication of versatile materials. [Display omitted] •Biomimetic method was applied as seeded technique before hydrothermal treatment.•Synthesis processes were all chemical-treated under reaction temperature of 180°C.•Titanium substrate and hydroxyapatite coating were phase-pure.•Titanium was porous and hydroxyapatite was idealized hexagonal prism-like.