Adhesion strength and fracture toughness are two crucial mechanical properties for bioceramic coatings on metal implants directly affecting successful implantation and long-term stability. In this study, the adhesion strength of sol-gel derived FHA coatings on Ti6Al4V substrates was measured by pull-out tensile test, and the toughness was assessed by energy release method. With increase of the degree of fluoridation, the adhesion strength increases up to about 40% and the fracture toughness increases about 200 to 300%. Contrary to the wide-spread belief, it is interesting to note that after soaking in the Tris-buffered physiological saline solution (for 21 days), the adhesion strength increases about 60% as compared with the as-deposited coating, instead of decreasing. The mechanism of the increase is discussed. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.