Vol. 29 No. 1 (2026) Cover Image
Vol. 29 No. 1 (2026)

Published: March 20, 2026

Pages: 47-56

Original Article

Surface modification of 316L Stainless Steel alloy using Nano Ceramic Hydroxyapatite, Magnesium Oxide, Zinc Oxide, and composite coating by EPD to enhancing corrosion resistance in biomedical application

Aya Muhsin Hazber 1 Ayad Naseef Jasim 1 Abbas Al-Bawee 1
1 Department of Material, College of engineering, University of Diyala, Baquba, Iraq
History
  • Received: March 22, 2025
  • Revised: June 8, 2025
  • Accepted: July 16, 2025
  • Available Online: March 20, 2026
DOI

https://doi.org/10.29194/NJES.29010047

Abstract

The toxicity of permanent implants is the main concern. The release of ions from the substrate leads to toxicity. Because of how the human body works biologically, the toxicity of corrosion compounds is a byproduct of wear and fretting debris. aimed to improve the corrosion resistance of a 316L stainless steel substrate. Bio ceramic Nano-hydroxyapatite (HA) was coated using the Electrophoretic Deposition (EPD) technique. Stainless steel has good mechanical properties and high compatibility, but it suffers from body fluid attack due to its chloride content, which can penetrate the passivation layer, resulting in the release of chromium and nickel ions. Tissues and organs are damaged by the ions and debris that are released. To address this problem, it was coated with bioceramic using the EPD method. Suspensions of various powders—hydroxyapatite, magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, and the composite—were prepared and coated by electrophoretic deposition. The coated samples were dried at room temperature to ensure a homogeneous coating structure. The zeta potential test for magnesium oxide and hydroxyapatite suspensions was positive, while zinc oxide and complex suspensions were negative. One of the important parameters for achieving electrolyte and implant balance is the open circuit potential (OCP). A substantial change towards a more noble direction (less negative) was seen in the OCP-coated (316 L) alloy, suggesting excellent thermodynamic stability. Tafel extrapolation analysis was used to obtain the corrosion potential (Ecorr) and corrosion current density (Icorr) values of composite-coated stainless steel 316L, which are generally derived from the polarization curve. The findings that are in line with the MgO, HA, and ZnO coatings show a significant decrease in corrosion current (Icorr), an increase in corrosion potential (Ecorr), and a decrease in corrosion rate from (4.386 × 10-¹ mm/y) Stainless Steel 316 L to (1.417 × 10-² mm/y) MgO Coated and (1.222 × 10-³ mm/y) (65%MgO+25%ZnO+10%HA coated).

Keywords

References

  1. K. Ceyhun and R. Kacar, "In vitro bioactivity and corrosion properties of laser beam welded medical grade AISI 316L stainless steel in simulated body fluid," Int. J. Electrochem. Sci., vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 2762-2777, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1452-3981(23)16139-6
  2. S. B. Goodman, Z. Yao, M. Keeney, and F. Yang, "The future of biologic coatings for orthopaedic implants," Biomaterials, vol. 34, no. 13, pp. 3174-3183, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2013.01.074
  3. H. T. Aro, J. J. Alm, N. Moritz, T. J. Mäkinen, and P. Lankinen, "Low BMD affects initial stability and delays stem osseointegration in cementless total hip arthroplasty in women: a 2-year RSA study of 39 patients," Taylor & Francis, 2012. https://doi.org/10.3109/17453674.2012.678798
  4. A. G. Gristina, "Biomaterial-centered infection: microbial adhesion versus tissue integration," Science, vol. 237, no. 4822, pp. 1588-1595, 1987. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.3629258
  5. Z. C. Wang, F. Chen, L. M. Huang, and C. J. Lin, "Electrophoretic deposition and characterization of nano-sized hydroxyapatite particles," J. Mater. Sci., vol. 40, no. 18, pp. 4955-4957, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-005-3871-x
  6. A. Balamurugan, G. Balossier, J. Michel, and J. M. F. Ferreira, "Electrochemical and structural evaluation of functionally graded bioglass-apatite composites electrophoretically deposited onto Ti6Al4V alloy," Electrochim. Acta, vol. 54, no. 4, pp. 1192-1198, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2008.08.055
  7. A. Stoch, A. Brożek, G. Kmita, J. Stoch, W. Jastrzębski, and A. Rakowska, "Electrophoretic coating of hydroxyapatite on titanium implants," J. Mol. Struct., vol. 596, no. 1-3, pp. 191-200, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-2860(01)00716-5
  8. T. Matsushita and H. Takahashi, "Orthopedic applications of metallic biomaterials," in Metals for Biomedical Devices, Elsevier, 2019, pp. 431-473. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-102666-3.00017-1
  9. Z. Zhang, T. Jiang, K. Ma, X. Cai, Y. Zhou, and Y. Wang, "Low temperature electrophoretic deposition of porous chitosan/silk fibroin composite coating for titanium biofunctionalization," J. Mater. Chem., vol. 21, no. 21, pp. 7705-7713, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1039/c0jm04164e
  10. S. Heise et al., "Electrophoretic deposition and characterization of chitosan/bioactive glass composite coatings on Mg alloy substrates," Electrochim. Acta, vol. 232, pp. 456-464, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2017.02.081
  11. M. A. Hussain et al., "Mechanical properties of CNT reinforced hybrid functionally graded materials for bioimplants," Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. China, vol. 24, pp. s90-s98, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1003-6326(14)63293-3
  12. S. Mahmoodi, L. Sorkhi, M. Farrokhi-Rad, and T. Shahrabi, "Electrophoretic deposition of hydroxyapatite-chitosan nanocomposite coatings in different alcohols," Surf. Coat. Technol., vol. 216, pp. 106-114, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2012.11.032
  13. E. Abd Al-Majeed and O. S. Mahdi, "Preparation and characterization bioactive properties of bioceramic composite (Zinc Oxide/Hydroxyapatite)," J. Eng. Appl. Sci., vol. 14, pp. 9504-9508, 2019. https://doi.org/10.36478/jeasci.2019.9504.9508
  14. W. G. Billotte, D. B. Reynolds, G. M. Mehrotra, R. Srinivasan, and P. K. Bajpai, "In vitro characterization of a zinc based bioceramic," Biomed. Sci. Instrum., vol. 33, pp. 126-130, 1997.
  15. S. Sadeghzade, R. Emadi, and F. Tavangarian, "Synthesis of silicate zinc bioceramic via mechanochemical technique," in Advances in Powder and Ceramic Materials Science, Springer, 2020, pp. 143-150. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36552-3_15
  16. M. Nabiyouni, T. Brückner, H. Zhou, U. Gbureck, and S. B. Bhaduri, "Magnesium-based bioceramics in orthopedic applications," Acta Biomater., vol. 66, pp. 23-43, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2017.11.033
  17. A. Saberi, M. S. Baltatu, and P. Vizureanu, "Recent advances in magnesium-magnesium oxide nanoparticle composites for biomedical applications," Bioengineering, vol. 11, no. 5, p. 508, 2024. https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering11050508
  18. N. Azarian and S. M. M. Khoei, "Characteristics of a multi-component MgO-based bioceramic coating synthesized in-situ by plasma electrolytic oxidation," J. Magnes. Alloys, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 1595-1608, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jma.2020.12.018
  19. M. Razavi, M. Fathi, O. Savabi, L. Tayebi, and D. Vashaee, "Biodegradable magnesium bone implants coated with a novel bioceramic nanocomposite," Materials, vol. 13, no. 6, p. 1315, 2020. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13061315
  20. M. H. Abdulkareem, A. H. Abdalsalam, and A. J. Bohan, "Influence of chitosan on the antibacterial activity of composite coating (PEEK/HAp) fabricated by electrophoretic deposition," Prog. Org. Coat., vol. 130, pp. 251-259, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.porgcoat.2019.01.050
  21. L. Besra and M. Liu, "A review on fundamentals and applications of electrophoretic deposition (EPD)," Prog. Mater. Sci., vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 1-61, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmatsci.2006.07.001
  22. F. Hossein-Babaei and B. Raissi-Dehkordi, "Fabrication of poly-Si thick films by electrophoretic deposition," Electron. Lett., vol. 37, no. 17, pp. 1090-1092, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1049/el:20010723
  23. M. G. Khaledi, High Performance Capillary Electrophoresis, vol. 146, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, pp. 303-401, 1998.
  24. M. Farrokhi-Rad, "Electrophoretic deposition of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles in different alcohols: effect of Tris (tris (hydroxymethyl) aminomethane) as a dispersant," Ceram. Int., vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 3361-3371, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2015.10.130
  25. A. Michelmore, "Thin film growth on biomaterial surfaces," in Thin Film Coatings for Biomaterials and Biomedical Applications, pp. 29-47, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-1-78242-453-6.00002-X
  26. M. K. Abbass, A. N. Jasim, M. Jasim, K. S. Khashan, and M. J. Issa, "Improving bio corrosion resistance of the single layer of nano hydroxyapatite and nano YSZ coating on the Ti6Al4V alloy using electrophoretic deposition," Solid State Technol., vol. 63, no. 6, pp. 18584-18597, 2020.
  27. J. Chen, J. G. C. Wolke, and K. De Groot, "Microstructure and crystallinity in hydroxyapatite coatings," Biomaterials, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 396-399, 1994. https://doi.org/10.1016/0142-9612(94)90253-4
  28. H. Zeng and W. R. Lacefield, "XPS, EDX and FTIR analysis of pulsed laser deposited calcium phosphate bioceramic coatings: the effects of various process parameters," Biomaterials, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 23-30, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0142-9612(99)00128-3
  29. D. Li, "Microfluidic methods for measuring zeta potential," Interface Sci. Technol., vol. 2, pp. 617-640, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1573-4285(04)80032-2
  30. D. Predoi, S. L. Iconaru, M. V. Predoi, M. Motelica-Heino, R. Guegan, and N. Buton, "Evaluation of antibacterial activity of zinc-doped hydroxyapatite colloids and dispersion stability using ultrasounds," Nanomaterials, vol. 9, no. 4, p. 515, 2019. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9040515
  31. A. Molaei, M. Yari, and M. R. Afshar, "Modification of electrophoretic deposition of chitosan-bioactive glass-hydroxyapatite nanocomposite coatings for orthopedic applications by changing voltage and deposition time," Ceram. Int., vol. 41, no. 10, pp. 14537-14544, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2015.07.170
  32. O. Saleem, M. Wahaj, M. A. Akhtar, and M. A. Ur Rehman, "Fabrication and characterization of Ag-Sr-substituted hydroxyapatite/chitosan coatings deposited via electrophoretic deposition: a design of experiment study," ACS Omega, vol. 5, no. 36, pp. 22984-22992, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.0c02582
  33. İ. Aydın, A. I. Bahçepınar, M. Kırman, and M. A. Çipiloğlu, "HA coating on Ti6Al7Nb alloy using an electrophoretic deposition method and surface properties examination of the resulting coatings," Coatings, vol. 9, no. 6, p. 402, 2019. https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings9060402
  34. A. Wu, P. M. Vilarinho, and A. I. Kingon, "Electrophoretic deposition of lead zirconate titanate films on metal foils for embedded components," J. Am. Ceram. Soc., vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 575-581, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1551-2916.2005.00732.x
  35. A. N. Jasim, Enhancing the mechanical properties and biological characteristics of EPD nano composites functionally graded organic-inorganic systems for medical applications, M.Sc. thesis, Dept. Prod. Eng. Metall., Univ. Technol., Baghdad, Iraq, 2020.
  36. A. Al-Bawee, Z. T. Khodair, and A. K. Hussein, "Impact of surface titanium alloy coatings for biomedical applications," in AIP Conf. Proc., AIP Publishing, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0265031
  37. G. T. El-Bassyouni, S. M. Mouneir, and A. M. El-Shamy, "Advances in surface modifications of titanium and its alloys: implications for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications," Multiscale Multidiscip. Model. Exp. Des., vol. 8, no. 5, p. 265, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41939-025-00823-1
  38. A. Al-Ali, M. H. Abdulkareem, and I. A. Anoon, "Antibacterial improvement with multilayer of bio-composite coatings produced by electrophoretic deposition," Eng. Technol. J., vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 1-12, Jan. 2024. https://doi.org/10.30684/etj.2023.143475.1588