Nanoporous TiO2 Research Articles

Fabrication of dye-sensitised solar cell using dry Ixora extract as sensitiser

ABSTRACT A dye-sensitised solar cell was fabricated using dry Ixora flower extract. The sensitiser was obtained by physical extraction using a mixture of ethanol and distilled water as solvent in the ratio of 7:3. The optical study of the sample was done within wavelength range of 230 nm to 1100 nm using spectrophotometer (UV- 750 series). The outcome shows an optimum absorption in the visible region of the EM spectrum, which shifted to the UV region when adsorbed onto a nano-porous TiO2 surface. An alternative peak of 0.95a.u in the visible region was observed with enhanced optical absorption across the infrared region of the spectrum. The absorption coefficient values suggest the extract absorbs light in the visible region, which was also confirmed with the relatively high extinction coefficient observed in the visible region of the EM spectrum. The extract exhibits a low transmittance in the visible range, which increases to over 99% in the red wavelengths. The extract has low reflectance of about 20% in the visible range, which falls lower as wavelength increases into the infrared region. The energy band gap (for direct transition) of 2.13 eV was obtained for dry Ixora dye extract. The fabricated solar cell performed a fill factor of 0.27, Jsc of 0.1273 mA/cm2, Voc of 0.7001 V, and conversion efficiency of about 0.02%. with these results, the dye extract of dry ixora flower can serve as a good photo-sensitiser for the fabrication of dye-sensitised solar cell.

The Optimization of the Synthesis of Antibacterial Coatings on Ti6Al4V Coupons Obtained by Electron Beam Melting

Prosthetic joint infection represents a problem that worsens the patient’s quality of life and produces an economic impact on health systems. We report the anodization of Ti6Al4V coupons obtained by electron beam melting to produce a nanostructured surface. Anodization at 10 V produced TiO2 nanopores with a diameter in the range of 15–20 nm. Thereafter, Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) were deposited in three different ways to provide antibacterial functionality to the coatings: electrochemically, thermally, and chemically. The electrochemical method did not provide good coverage of AgNPs. At 0.1 V of synthesis potential, cubic, octahedral, and truncated octahedral Ag crystals were obtained. The thermal method provided a good distribution of AgNPs but it damaged the TiO2 nanostructure. The chemical method showed the best distribution of AgNPs over the anodized surface and preserved the anodized nanostructure. For this reason, the chemical method was selected to perform further studies. Ag+ release was monitored in simulated body fluid at 37 °C, reaching 1.86 mg Ag+/L after 42 days. The antibacterial coating showed excellent antibacterial activity and inhibited biofilm formation for Staphylococcus epidermidis RP62A and Staphylococcus aureus V329 strains (lethality > 99.9% for both bacteria and assays).

Elucidating mechanisms and DFT analysis of monometallic Vanadium incorporated nanoporous TiO2 as advanced material for enzyme-free electrochemical blood glucose biosensors with exceptional performance tailored for point-of-care applications

Diabetes is a chronic condition that can last a lifetime and has claimed a great number of lives in recent years. This motivated scientists to design a glucose biosensor to monitor and control blood glucose levels in diabetic patients. Herein, hydrothermal derived Vanadium (V), Nickel (Ni), and Cobalt (Co)-dopedTiO2 (MxTi1-xO2 (x = 0.01, 0.02, and 0.03)) was synthesized to achieve the best material to answer the pertaining problem. Of all the materials synthesized, V0.03Ti0.97O2@NF demonstrated the highest level of sensitivity, and selectivity, and has higher electrochemical cycling stability in 0.1 M KOH. It exhibits a very high sensitivity of 1129.31 μAmM-1cm-2 and Limits of Detection (LOD) and Limits of Quantification (LOQ) of 1.8 μM (S/N = 3) and 6.2 μM, respectively, with a broad linear range from 20 μM to 2 mM. The DFT approach was employed computationally to analyze the adsorption of glucose on surfaces of pure TiO2 and TiO2 doped with V, Ni, and Co respectively. The research findings highlight that when it comes to its interaction with glucose, pure TiO2 exhibits significantly less reactivity compared to transition metal-doped TiO2. Experimentally it shows thattheV0.03Ti0.97O2@NF surface has the most sensitiveglucose detection capability and it alsoexhibited significant selectivity towards glucose in the presence of additional interference. Itdemonstrated 100% retention after cycling stability and had a shelf life of ≃30 days. The V0.03Ti0.97O2@NF-based sensor exhibits accurate glucose sensing, even for human serum samples.

Confinement Effects on Proton Transfer in TiO2 Nanopores from Machine Learning Potential Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

Improved understanding of proton transfer in nanopores is critical for a wide range of emerging applications, yet experimentally probing mechanisms and energetics of this process remains a significant challenge. To help reveal details of this process, we developed and applied a machine learning potential derived from first-principles calculations to examine water reactivity and proton transfer in TiO2 slit-pores. We find that confinement of water within pores smaller than 0.5 nm imposes strong and complex effects on water reactivity and proton transfer. Although the proton transfer mechanism is similar to that at a TiO2 interface with bulk water, confinement reduces the activation energy of this process, leading to more frequent proton transfer events. This enhanced proton transfer stems from the contraction of oxygen-oxygen distances dictated by the interplay between confinement and hydrophilic interactions. Our simulations also highlight the importance of the surface topology, where faster proton transport is found in the direction where a unique arrangement of surface oxygens enables the formation of an ordered water chain. In a broader context, our study demonstrates that proton transfer in hydrophilic nanopores can be enhanced by controlling pore size, surface chemistry, and topology.

Facile Synthesis to Porous TiO2 Nanostructures at Low Temperature for Efficient Visible-Light Degradation of Tetracycline.

In this study, nanoporous TiO2 with hierarchical micro/nanostructures was synthesized on a large scale by a facile one-step solvothermal method at a low temperature. A series of characterizations was performed and carried out on the as-prepared photocatalysts, which were applied to the degradation of the antibiotic tetracycline (TC). The results demonstrated that nanoporous TiO2 obtained at a solvothermal temperature of 100 °C had a spherical morphology with high crystallinity and a relatively large specific surface area, composed of a large number of nanospheres. The nanoporous TiO2 with hierarchical micro/nanostructures exhibited excellent photocatalytic degradation activity for TC under simulated sunlight. The degradation rate was close to 100% after 30 min of UV light irradiation, and reached 79% only after 60 min of visible light irradiation, which was much better than the photodegradation performance of commercial TiO2 (only 29%). Moreover, the possible intermediates formed during the photocatalytic degradation of TC were explored by the density functional theory calculations and HPLC-MS spectra. Furthermore, two possible degradation routes were proposed, which provided experimental and theoretical support for the photocatalytic degradation of TC. In this study, we provide a new approach for the hierarchical micro/nanostructure of nanoporous TiO2, which can be applied in industrial manufacturing fields.

Influence of micro and nanoporous TiO2 surface modifications on physical-chemical and biological interactions

Titanium is widely used in implants but can cause adverse reactions like inflammation and tissue rejection. Surface modifications like acid-etching and anodization improve implant properties and osseointegration. This study investigated how micro and nanoporous TiO2 films affect the implant-host interaction, focusing on physical–chemical and biological aspects. Surface treated implants were obtained by acid-etched and anodization of commercially pure titanium (CPTi). Samples were characterized by FE- and FIB-SEM, XRD, EDX, WCA, profilometry, and electrochemical behavior was also investigated. Biocompatibility was accessed by protein adsorption (albumin and serum proteins), hemolysis, and in vitro fibroblast interaction. Anodic samples exhibited the highest corrosion resistance and apatite deposition. Protein adsorption was related to surface roughness and wettability. Samples followed the Langmuir model isotherm (Type I), except for galvanostatic samples (Type III isotherm). Kinetic adsorption was modeled by a pseudo-first-order model, wherein rate-limiting step is albumin diffusion into pores. All surfaces met the hemocompatibility requirements for its use as biomaterial (hemolysis index < 2 %). The upper surface roughness threshold was identified at approximately Sa ≈ 1 µm for better fibroblast viability, adhesion, and proliferation. Combining the results, nanoporous samples present optimized surface conditions that enhance body-fluid contact and improve cell adhesion, thereby contributing to long-term stability.

Charge Transfer Mechanism on a Cobalt-Polyoxometalate-TiO2 Photoanode for Water Oxidation in Acid.

We constructed a photoanode comprising the homogeneous water oxidation catalyst (WOC) Na8K8[Co9(H2O)6(OH)3(HPO4)2(PW9O34)3] (Co9POM) and nanoporous n-type TiO2 photoelectrodes (henceforth "TiO2-Co9POM") by first anchoring the cationic 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APS) ligand on a metal oxide light absorber, followed by treatment of the metal oxide-APS with a solution of the polyoxometalate WOC. The resulting TiO2-Co9POM photoelectrode exhibits a 3-fold oxygen evolution photocurrent enhancement compared to bare TiO2 in aqueous acidic conditions. Three-element (Co 2p, W 4f, and O 1s) X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy studies before and after use indicate that surface-bound Co9POM retains its structural integrity throughout all photoelectrochemical water oxidation studies reported here. Extensive charge-transfer mechanistic studies by photoelectrochemical techniques and transient absorption spectroscopy elucidate that Co9POM serves as an efficient WOC, extracting photogenerated holes from TiO2 on the picosecond time scale. This is the first comprehensive mechanistic investigation elucidating the roles of polyoxometalates in POM-photoelectrode hybrid oxygen evolution reaction systems.

Characterization of modified titanium surfaces by anodisation and immersion tests

This paper explores the features of both nanoporous and compact TiO2 films formed by titanium anodisation in two experimental conditions, given that they have completely different morphologies and properties than those found by our previous studies. After anodisation, samples have been subjected for 20 days to immersion tests in different media (H2O, H3PO4, and KOH). Surface morphology, phase composition and wettability of anodised films were investigated using FESEM, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, contact angle measurements and XPS, and the hydrophilicity of modified surfaces was investigated by immersion tests. Nanoporous films exhibited hydrophobic surfaces, but contact angle values gradually decreased after immersing films in H2O, H3PO4 and KOH media, respectively. However, compact films produced superhydrophilic surfaces, both before and after immersion tests, with the exception of immersing the film in a H3PO4 medium due to film removal by acid attack. As for compact films, an unusual morphology revealed by the presence of cone-shaped particles might be responsible for the adsorption of –OH groups arranged so as to favour anatase phase formation.

Effect of an innovative sorbent material coupled to continuous flow process in the protein and oxidative stability of white wines

In this work the impact of an innovative protein stabilization method (TiO2-based composite sorbent material coupled with a prototype device operating under continuous flow) has been tested in terms of protein and oxidative stability of white wines. Optimal process parameters (duration 60 min; flow rate 1.5 ± 0.1 L/h in 6 cycle rates/h) ensured an average 32.5 % reduction of total proteins; the nanoporous TiO2 film supported on inert glass beads acted as selective sorbent for pathogenesis-related proteins (PRPs, 10–60 kDa) responsible for wine instability, based on the protein stability studies (heat-test) performed in the experimental wines. The stabilization process has been tested for the release of contaminants (Ti), and the innovative treatment has been proven to preserve wine from oxidation also delaying the browning onset under extreme storage conditions.

Anodic Oxidation of 3D Printed Ti6Al4V Scaffold Surfaces: In Vitro Studies

This study focuses on the surface modification of Ti6Al4V scaffolds produced through additive manufacturing using the Powder-Bed Fusion Electron-Beam Melting (PBF-EB) technique. From our perspective, this technique has the potential to enhance implant osseointegration, involving the growth of a layer of titanium dioxide nanotubes (TiO2) on surfaces through anodic oxidation. Scaffolds with anodized surfaces were characterized, and the formation of a nanoporous and crystalline TiO2 layer was confirmed. The analysis of cell morphology revealed that cells adhered to the anodized surfaces through their filopodia, which led to proliferation during the initial hours. However, it was observed that the adhesion of Saos-2 cells was lower on anodized scaffolds compared to both built and chemically polished scaffolds throughout the cell culture period. The results obtained here suggest that while anodic oxidation is effective in achieving a nanoporous surface, cell adhesion and interaction were affected by the weak adhesion of cell filopodia to the surface. Thus, combining surface treatment techniques to create micro- and nanopores may be an effective alternative for achieving a favorable cellular response when the objective is to enhance the performance of porous titanium scaffolds in the short term.

Electrically Stimulated Dental Implants Triggers Soft‐Tissue Integration and Bactericidal Functions

AbstractModulating cellular functions at the dental implant‐tissue interface to augment integration and prevent bacterial ingress is crucial for achieving early stability and long‐term implant success. Nano‐engineering strategies, such as anodized titanium implants with titania (TiO2) nanotubes/nanopores, are emerging as a promising dental implant surface modification approach to enhance integration and prevent infection. Achieving on‐demand therapy through electrical stimulation therapy (EST, supply of voltage/current to local tissue) may be advantageous but has not been explored for dental implants. Further, anodized implants with TiO2 nanotubes/nanopores represent a semi‐conducting modification that can impede EST effectiveness. In this pioneering study, TiO2 nanopores are converted into conducting Ti nanopores to perform EST to achieve superior soft‐tissue integration and antibacterial efficacy. In‐depth surface characterizations are followed by assays investigating the effect of EST on cultured human salivary biofilm and gingival fibroblasts. Significant bactericidal efficacy is demonstrated for EST (1.5 V for 5 min per day) using Ti nanopores. Further, EST enhanced fibroblast proliferation and collagen secretion. In summary, EST applied to Ti nanoporous implants promotes soft‐tissue healing and antibacterial functions and is proposed as a next‐generation approach in implant dentistry to achieve on‐demand therapy.

Self-Cleaning Highly Porous TiO2 Coating Designed by Swelling-Assisted Sequential Infiltration Synthesis (SIS) of a Block Copolymer Template.

Photocatalytic self-cleaning coatings with a high surface area are important for a wide range of applications, including optical coatings, solar panels, mirrors, etc. Here, we designed a highly porous TiO2 coating with photoinduced self-cleaning characteristics and very high hydrophilicity. This was achieved using the swelling-assisted sequential infiltration synthesis (SIS) of a block copolymer (BCP) template, which was followed by polymer removal via oxidative thermal annealing. The quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) was employed to optimize the infiltration process by estimating the mass of material infiltrated into the polymer template as a function of the number of SIS cycles. This adopted swelling-assisted SIS approach resulted in a smooth uniform TiO2 film with an interconnected network of pores. The synthesized film exhibited good crystallinity in the anatase phase. The resulting nanoporous TiO2 coatings were tested for their functional characteristics. Exposure to UV irradiation for 1 h induced an improvement in the hydrophilicity of coatings with wetting angle reducing to unmeasurable values upon contact with water droplets. Furthermore, their self-cleaning characteristics were tested by measuring the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB). The synthesized porous TiO2 nanostructures displayed promising photocatalytic activity, demonstrating the degradation of approximately 92% of MB after 180 min under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation. Thus, the level of performance was comparable to the photoactivity of commercial anatase TiO2 nanoparticles of the same quantity. Our results highlight a new robust approach for designing hydrophilic self-cleaning coatings with controlled porosity and composition.

Nanoscale Topography of Anodic TiO2 Nanostructures Is Crucial for Cell-Surface Interactions.

Anodic titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanostructures, i.e., obtained by electrochemical anodization, have excellent control over the nanoscale morphology and have been extensively investigated in biomedical applications owing to their sub-100 nm nanoscale topography range and beneficial effects on biocompatibility and cell interactions. Herein, we obtain TiO2 nanopores (NPs) and nanotubes (NTs) with similar morphologies, namely, 15 nm diameter and 500 nm length, and investigate their characteristics and impact on stem cell adhesion. We show that the transition of TiO2 NPs to NTs occurs via a pore/wall splitting mechanism and the removal of the fluoride-rich layer. Furthermore, in contrast to the case of NPs, we observe increased cell adhesion and proliferation on nanotubes. The enhanced mesenchymal stem cell adhesion/proliferation seems to be related to a 3-fold increase in activated integrin clustering, as confirmed by immunogold labeling with β1 integrin antibody on the nanostructured layers. Moreover, computations of the electric field and surface charge density show increased values at the inner and outer sharp edges of the top surfaces of the NTs, which in turn can influence cell adhesion by increasing the bridging interactions mediated by proteins and molecules in the environment. Collectively, our results indicate that the nanoscale surface architecture of the lateral spacing topography can greatly influence stem cell adhesion on substrates for biomedical applications.

A Brief Study of the Carbon Counter Electrode for Photosensor based on DSSC

We investigate the fabrication of photosensor devices based on dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC). DSSC photovoltaic cells use solar light energy to trigger chemical reactions as a source of electrical energy. DSSC has several advantages, namely low production costs, environmental friendliness, easy fabrication, and high-power conversion efficiency. Therefore, DSSC is ideal for use as a photosensor. Most DSSCs use a wet electrolyte to provide ionic conductivity to the photoanode. However, long-term use of liquid electrolyte causes corrosion which can reduce the stability of the resulting current. In this research, yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) solid electrolyte was used to prevent corrosion of the photoanode. Samples were characterized using XRD, SEM, UV-Vis and photoresponse. The XRD results show the crystallinity of nanoporous TiO2 and YSZ. SEM results show that the average particle size distribution of TiO2 /YSZ DSSC cells is 315 nm. The sensitivity, rise and fall times of the photosensor have been calculated by varying the counter electrode when testing the photoresponse. Finally, Graphene as a counter showed higher voltage and current compared to AC which is 0.2 V and 0.05 µA.

Tuning the structures and conductivity of nanoporous TiO2―TiO films through anodizing electrolytes as LIB anodes with ultra-high capacity and excellent cycling performance

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a typical lithium-ion storage material with various advantages including a stable structure, an abundant source, and facile preparation. To further improve the lithium-ion diffusion, we employed a smart anodization method to prepare nanoporous TiO2–TiO (TT) films with a fast growth rate and excellent charge/discharge performance. The key feature is the use of nitric-based electrolytes with the addition of glycine and ethanol, which rapidly form approximately five times thicker TiO2 nanoporous films compared to previous studies. The addition of glycine and ethanol to nitric-based electrolytes improve both the nanoporous structures and conductivity of titania films, thereby forming highly active TiO and a large surface area, which further accelerates the diffusion of lithium ions. As a lithium-ion battery (LIB) anode, the E-G-TT specimen offers the highest initial discharge capacity (3418 μA h−1 cm−2, 30 μA cm−2), which is approximately eight times higher than that of the titania film obtained without additives (TT). Furthermore, a high discharge capacity of >1100 μA h−1 cm−2 can be maintained after 100 cycles, which can be mainly attributed to the enhancement of conductivity and charge transition of the composite films due to the synergistic effect of ethanol and glycine addition.

Highly visible-light-responsive nanoporous nitrogen-doped TiO2 (N-TiO2) photocatalysts produced by underwater plasma technology for environmental and biomedical applications

We suggest an easy one-step underwater plasma method to generate nanoporous N-doped TiO2(N-TiO2) photocatalysts with high reactivity in the visible light range. The extreme energy input of this underwater plasma technology allowed the synthesis, crystallization, doping, and porosity of TiO2 by inducing the continuous reaction of highly energetic atomic and molecular species within a few minutes. The produced N-TiO2 demonstrated a nanoporous anatase-brookite polycrystalline structure with substitutionally doped N atoms. The N doping species led to a narrow bandgap, effective charge-carrier separation, and better light absorbing ability in the visible light region. Accordingly, N-TiO2 photocatalysts showed efficient photocatalytic activities for methylene blue(MB), rhodamine B(Rh B), and tetracycline(TC) under solar and visible light conditions, up to approximately 4.5 times higher than that of commercial TiO2. Furthermore, the superior biocompatibility (94.5%) of water purified by N-TiO2 photocatalysts proved the feasibility of these materials for practical use. Moreover, N-TiO2 photocatalysts showed excellent antibacterial ability against gram-negative Escherichia coli(E. coli) and gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus(S. aureus), which extends the applicability of N-TiO2 photocatalysts to biomedical applications and sludge purification. This study presents one of the most facile and fast methods for the production of highly visible-light-responsive and nanoporous TiO2 for environmental and biomedical applications.

Effect of Functional Nanoporous TiO2 Film Obtained on Ti6Al4V Implant Alloy to Improve Resistance in Biological Solution for Inflammatory Conditions.

The metallic titanium-based biomaterials are sensitive to corrosion-induced degradation in biological fluids in the presence of inflammatory conditions containing reactive oxygen species (ROS). Excess ROS induces oxidative modification of cellular macromolecules, inhibits protein function, and promotes cell death. In addition, ROS could promote implant degradation by accelerating the corrosive attack of biological fluids. The functional nanoporous titanium oxide film is obtained on titanium alloy to study the effect on implant reactivity in biological fluid with reactive oxygen species such as hydrogen peroxide, which are present in inflammations. The TiO2 nanoporous film is obtained by electrochemical oxidation at high potential. The untreated Ti6Al4V implant alloy and nanoporous titanium oxide film are comparatively evaluated for corrosion resistance in biological solution by Hank's and Hank's doped with hydrogen peroxide by electrochemical methods. The results showed that the presence of the anodic layer significantly improved the resistance of the titanium alloy to corrosion-induced degradation in biological solutions under inflammatory conditions.

Compact TiO2@SnO2@C heterostructured particles as anode materials for sodium-ion batteries with improved volumetric capacity

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are promising candidates for large-scale energy storage. Increasing the energy density of SIBs demands anode materials with high gravimetric and volumetric capacity. To overcome the drawback of low density of conventional nanosized or porous electrode materials, compact heterostructured particles are developed in this work with improved Na storage capacity by volume, which are composed of SnO2 nanoparticles loaded into nanoporous TiO2 followed by carbon coating. The resulted TiO2@SnO2@C (denoted as TSC) particles inherit the structural integrity of TiO2 and extra capacity contribution from SnO2, delivering a volumetric capacity of 393 mAh cm-3 notably higher than that of porous TiO2 and commercial hard carbon. The heterogeneous interface between TiO2 and SnO2 is believed to promote the charge transfer and facilitate the redox reactions in the compact heterogeneous particles. This work demonstrates a useful strategy for electrode materials with high volumetric capacity.

Using Applied Electrochemistry to Obtain Nanoporous TiO2 Films on Ti6Al4V Implant Alloys and Their Preclinical In Vitro Characterization in Biological Solutions

Nanoporous TiO2 film is deposited on grade 5 Ti6Al4V implant alloy by electrochemical oxidation. The nanopores of the film, as highlighted by electron microscopy, have a mean diameter of 58.6 nm, which is measured and calculated from an average value of 10 measurements. The increase in oxygen concentration compared to the untreated alloy, which indicates the oxidation of the titanium alloy surface, is visualized using X-ray spectroscopy coupled to an electron microscope. The beneficial effect of the oxidation and controlled formation of the TiO2 film on the implant alloy is proven by the comparative evaluation of degradation over time through the corrosion of both the untreated alloy and the alloy with an electrochemically formed and controlled TiO2 film in Hank’s solution, which simulates the most corrosive biological fluid, blood. The results show that the electrochemical modification of the grade 5 titanium alloy to form a nanoporous TiO2 surface film using the electrochemical oxidation method confirms the potential of improving the anticorrosive properties of titanium alloys used in implant applications.

Focal adhesion formation of primary human gingival fibroblast on hydrothermally and in-sol-made TiO2 -coated titanium.

Optimal cell adhesion of the gingival fibroblasts to dental implants is important for maintaining good implant integration. The aim of this study was to discover, if the nanoporous TiO2 -coating on titanium alloy substrates is able to increase the cell adhesion of the human gingival fibroblasts (HGF). The study consisted of three differently produced titanium groups: hydrothermally produced TiO2 -coating (HT), novel TiO2 -coating made in sol (SOL), and noncoated control group. Primary HGF cells were initiated from gingival biopsies from patients having a third molar extraction. HGF were cultivated on titanium discs for 2 and 24 h to determine the initial attachment with confocal microscope. The cell spreading and adhesion protein signals were measured. In addition, expression of adhesion proteins vinculin, paxillin, and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) were measured after 3 days of cultivation by using Western Blotting. Higher protein levels of paxillin, vinculin, and FAK were induced on both coated discs compared to noncoated discs. The difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05) concerning expression of paxillin. The cell spreading was significantly larger on SOL discs after 2 and 24 h when comparing to noncoated controls. The confocal microscope analyses revealed significantly higher adhesion protein signals on both HT- and SOL-coated titanium compared to control group. This study showed, that both methods to produce TiO2 -coatings are able to increase HGF adhesion protein expression and cell spreading on titanium surface. Accordingly, the coatings can potentially improve the gingival attachment to titanium implant surfaces.