Biomimetic calcium-phosphates produced by an auto-catalytic route on stainless steel 316L and bio-inert polyolefin

A melange of hydroxyapatite and calcium phosphate hydrate coatings have been deposited on the surfaces of 316L type stainless steel and polyolefin (PP-PE), both components of 316L/PP-PE/316L sandwich, by an auto-catalytic route using an acidic bath. Coatings on 316L are made of spherules size ranged from 100 nm to 1 μm while those observed on PP-PE are smaller in the 50-600 nm range. Cell viability is much higher in samples with novel auto-catalytic layer of Ca-P than in the uncoated ones. Furthermore, our results show that the Ca-P coating produced by an auto-catalytic route act as promoter for osteoblasts proliferation. Osteoblasts morphology investigated by immunofluorescence proves that they are attached and well spread confirming the cytocompatibility.