Detection of apatite formation on titania by modified-simulated body fluid using surface plasmon resonance

Abstract

The optical surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomenon was used to detect the apatite formation on the titania films. The apatite formation on the anatase titania deposited by atmospheric chemical vapor deposition using a modified-simulated body fluid (m-SBF) solution was detected by the SPR method using a multilayer structure of titania/gold/chromium/optical glass. To contact both the titania surface and m-SBF solutions, flow channel made by silicone is put on the multilayer device surface. The m-SBF solution was injected to the flow channel, and then SPR angle was measured at each time. SPR angle was shifted by +0.03° after 13 min since the start of the injection. SPR angles increased with duration until 39 min. By assuming that apatite was flat, the deposition rate for apatite layer was calculated to 0.23nm/h from the obtained SPR profiles. The SPR profiles after 39 min included some noise because apatite was formed as a non-uniform layer such as slit-like structure. These results indicate that the early growth of apatite formation on titania films can be detected by the multilayer SPR device. © 2012 The Ceramic Society of Japan.