Gradient Rare-Earths Bioceramic Composite Coating Fabricated by Wide-Band Laser Cladding and its Bioactivity

A gradient bioceramic composite coating was prepared by wide-band laser cladding technique on TC4 alloy surface. The influence of rare earths oxide CeO2 on microstructure of bioceramic coating was studied. The experimental results indicated that CeO2 plays an important role in inducing HA + β-TCP formation. There is almost no HA+β-TCP in bioceramic coating without CeO2. When CeO2 content is higher than 0.2 wt.%, the amount of HA+β-TCP catalyzed by CeO2 gradually increases. The amount of HA+β-TCP becomes largest when CeO2 content is up to 0.4wt%. However, when CeO2 content ranges from 0.6 wt.% to 0.8 wt.%, the amount of synthesizing HA+β-TCP conversely goes down. Through cell culture experiment in vitro, the effect of bioceramic coating with different CeO2 contents on the expression of characteristic protein is investigated. The results show that the largest amount of expression of hydroxyproline(Hyp) at 2d and alkaline phosphatase(ALP) at 6d on coating is complied with 0.4wt.% CeO2, The result indicates that bioactivity of bioceramic coating is dependent on the amount of HA + β-TCP catalyzed by different CeO2 contents.