Titanium and its alloys have been widely used as biomaterials for hard tissue replacements
because of their excellent mechanical properties and biocompatibility. However, the bonding between
their surfaces and bone is not enough after implantation. The bioactive surface modification such as a
hydroxyapatite (HAp) coating on their surfaces has been investigated. Recently, a simple method for
forming HAp layer on the surfaces of titanium and its alloys has been developed. This method is
called as alkaline treatment process. In this method, HAp deposits on the surfaces of titanium and its
alloys by dipping into simulated body fluid (SBF) after an alkaline solution treatment that is followed
by a baking treatment (alkaline treatment). This process is applicable to newly developed beta-type
Ti-29Nb-13Ta-4.6Zr alloy (TNTZ) for biomedical applications achieving bioactive HAp
modification. In this study, the morphology of the HAp layer formed on the surface of TNTZ was
investigated after various alkaline treatments followed by dipping in SBF. The formability of HAp on
the surface of TNTZ was then discussed. The formability of HAp on TNTZ is much lower than that of
commercially pure Ti, Ti-6Al-4V ELI and Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3Al alloys, which are representative metallic
biomaterials. The formability of HAp on TNTZ is improved by increasing the amount of Na in the
sodium titanate gels formed during an alkaline solution treatment where the NaOH concentrations
and the dipping time are over 5 M and 172.8 ks, respectively. The formability of HAp on TNTZ is
considerably improved by dipping in a 5 M NaOH solution for 172.8 ks. This condition for alkaline
solution treatment process is the most suitable for TNTZ.