Preparation of apatite coating on silicon rubber by biomimetic synthesizing

A process mimicking biomineralization is designed to synthesize apatite coating on silicone rubber, which is pretreated with the CaCl₂ ethanol solution and K₂HPO₄ solution, by soaking it in the simulated body fluid (SBF) and calcium phosphate supersaturated solution (CP solution) respectively. The coating formed on the substrate is characterized by thin film X-ray diffraction (TF-XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicate that; when soaked in SBF for 7d or soaked in CP solution for 5d, an apatite layer is formed on the surface of the substrate; the layer formed in SBF is net-like and many spheriform crystals are formed on the substrate, the layer formed in CP solution is composed of well-grown flake-like crystals.