Laser-induced crystallization of calcium phosphate coatings on polyethylene (PE)

Calcium phosphate (CaP) coatings are used for obtaining a desired biological response. Usually, CaP coatings on metallic substrates are crystallized by annealing at temperatures of at least 400-600 degrees C. For polymeric substrates, this annealing is not possible due to the low melting temperatures. In this work, we present a more suitable method for obtaining crystalline coatings on polymeric substrates, namely laser crystallization. We were successful in obtaining hydroxyapatite coatings on polyethylene. Because of the UV transmission characteristics of the CaP coatings, the use of a low wavelength (157 nm) F(2) laser was necessary for this. As a result of the laser treatment, the CaP coating broke up into islands. The cracks between the islands became larger and the surface became porous with increasing laser energy. The mechanism behind the formation of this morphology did not become clear. However, the fact that crystalline CaP coatings can be obtained on polymeric substrates in an easy way, possibly allows for the development of new products.