Chemical-hydrothermal synthesis of bioinert ZrO2-TiO2 films on pure Ti substrates and proliferation of osteoblast-like cells

Abstract

The synthesis of bioinert oxide films on pure Ti surfaces by chemical-hydrothermal treatment was investigated. Some pure Ti substrates were chemically treated with H2O2/HNO3-form a TiO2 gel layer prior-hydrothermal treatment. Two types of solutions in the hydrothermal treatment were prepared: Zr (OH)4 gel dispersed NH3/CH3CH (OH) COOH solution and Zr dissolved NH 3/CH3CH (OH) COOH solution. A uniform layer of very fine crystals were formed on the surfaces of the specimens subjected-the hydrothermal treatment. Sharp peaks attributed-TiO2 and/or Z1O2 appeared after the hydrothermal treatment. ZrO2-TiO2 composite films were successfully produced on the Ti surface by hydrothermal treatment with the Zr (OH) 4 gel dispersed NH3/CH 3CH (OH) COOH solution at 453 K for 12 h, following the chemical treatment. The proliferation of osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells was also investigated. The cells were observed-have spread their pseudopodiums. The cell density increased monotonically with incubation period for all specimens. The proliferation of cells was strongly influenced by the surface roughness; the cell densities increased with decreasing roughness in the range of Ra = 20-80 nm. Furthermore, the surface products with TiC>2 showed a relatively low rate of proliferation. The strong attachment of cells-the surface may hinder cell migration. © 2009 The Japan Institute of Metals.