ENHANCED CALCIUM PHOSPHATE PRECIPITATION ON THE SURFACE OF Mg-ION-IMPLANTED ZrO2 BIOCERAMIC

Modification of bioceramics by ion implantation of magnesium (Mg) is of interest as Mg is the fourth abundant cation in the human body. In this work, magnesium was ion-implanted into a ZrO2 based bioceramic stabilized with Y2O3 and Al2O3. Both Mg-implanted and unimplanted samples were soaked in a simulated body fluid (SBF) for a period of time. The deposits on the surface of various samples were characterized with scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). We find that the Mg-implanted ZrO2 shows better bioactivity than the plain bioceramic. These results indicate that Mg-implantation can improve the bioactivity of the ZrO2 based bioceramic. Mechanisms governing the improvement are discussed in this paper.