Adhesion of calcium phosphate coatings on polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE), poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA)

Calcium phosphate (CaP) coatings can be applied to improve the biological performance of polymeric medical implants. For clinical applications, a strong adhesion of the coating to the polymeric substrate is important. Therefore, the adhesion of rf magnetron-sputter-deposited CaP coatings on five polymers was studied: polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE), poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). To influence the adhesion, the interface was varied in six different ways, e. g. by a plasma or ion-beam pretreatment, or by using a Ti interlayer. The adhesion was determined by using scratch, tensile and 180^° bend tests. Especially the polymers PE and PS needed a bombardment by energetic particles prior to or during coating deposition, to enable the formation of chemical bonds between the coating and the polymer, which gave adhesion. On PLLA and PDMS, being oxygen containing polymers, it was easier to establish a strong interface. An overtreatment of the polymeric substrates gave worse adhesion, probably due to the formation of weak low molecular weight (LMW) layers on the polymer. On PTFE, the use of a Ti interlayer was necessary to prevent the PTFE from UV degradation during coating deposition, as this caused cohesive failure within the PTFE. The results showed that each polymer requires a different approach for obtaining optimal adhesion. The observed adhesion could often be explained in the terms of processes occurred during the pretreatment of the polymers or the deposition of the coating.