Abstract

Nano-scale surface roughening of metallic bio-implants plays an important role in the clinical success of hard tissue reconstruction and replacement. In this study, the nano-topographical features of titanium-niobium-zirconium (TNZ) alloy surfaces were controlled by using the target-ion induced plasma sputtering (TIPS) technique to improve the in vitro osteoblastic response. The TIPS technique is a novel strategy for etching the surface of metallic bio-implants using bombardment of target metal cations, which were accelerated by an extremely high negative bias voltage applied to the substrates. The nano-topography of the TNZ surfaces was successfully controlled by modulating experimental variables (such as the ion etching energy and the type of substrate or target materials) of TIPS. As a result, various nanopatterns (size: 10–210 nm) were fabricated on the surface of the TNZ alloys. Compared with the control group, experimental groups with nanopattern widths of ≥130 nm (130 and 210 nm groups) exhibited superior cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. Our findings demonstrate that TIPS is a promising technology that can impart excellent biological functions to the surface of metallic bio-implants.

Highlights

  • Ti-based alloys including Ti-6Al-4V are well-established bio-metals that exhibit excellent mechanical strength and biocompatibility required for various applications such as dental implants and bone plates/pins [1,2,3,4]

  • To confirm a nano-topographical change of TNZ surface depending on the target metal ion sources in target-ion induced plasma sputtering (TIPS) system, two different metal targets, niobium (Nb) and tantalum (Ta), were used

  • Various experimental parameters were considered in order to understand the nanotopographical changes on the TNZ surfaces after Nb- or Ta-TIPS

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Summary

Introduction

Ti-based alloys including Ti-6Al-4V are well-established bio-metals that exhibit excellent mechanical strength and biocompatibility required for various applications such as dental implants and bone plates/pins [1,2,3,4]. Titanium-niobium-zirconium (TNZ) alloys are a recently suggested alloy system with a low Young’s modulus that is comparable to that of the cortical bone. These alloys exhibit excellent biocompatibility due to the biocompatible alloying elements, niobium (Nb) and zirconium (Zr) [6,7]. Despite these attributes, the rate of osseointegration at the early stage of implantation is still too low to achieve a robust fixation of TNZ implants. Accelerated osseointegration between the surface of bio-implants and the surrounding tissue can be achieved through surface treatments, such as chemical functionalization or physical surface modifications, of the implants [8,9,10]

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