Combustion synthesis of Ti-C-Co-Ca3(PO4)2-Ag-Mg electrodes and their utilization for pulsed electrospark deposition of bioactive coatings having an antibacterial effect

This study aimed to obtain biocompatible ceramic materials in the Ti–C–Co–Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 –Ag–Mg system in combustion mode. The influence of cobalt additive on the combustion parameters, as well as the structure and properties of the electrode materials, was studied. Compact ceramics consists of a rigid frame of nonstoichiometric titanium (TiC 0,5 –TiC 0,6 ) carbide grains with titanium phosphate (Ti 3 PO (x) ) phase evenly distributed along the grain boundaries and with local precipitations of calcium oxide (CaO). The addition of cobalt leads to the formation of TiCo intermetallide and a complex CoTiP phase. Introduction of silver and magnesium causes the formation of a silver-based solid solution. Particular attention was devoted to studying the erosive capacity of the electrode materials during the pulsed electrospark deposition (PED) onto a titanium surface. The as-deposited coatings, which were 10 μm thick with a roughness Ra = 5–6 μm, exhibited high mechanical properties, as well as a sufficiently high level of biocompatibility and bioactivity. The silver additive enabled achieving a high antibacterial effect but resulted in a small inhibitory effect of osteoblastic proliferation and differentiation.