A super-hydrophilic surface enhanced by the hierarchical reticular porous structure on a low-modulus Ti–24Nb–4Zr–8Sn alloy

Abstract

In this study, we fabricated a super-hydrophilic (θ < 5°) hierarchical reticular porous structure on the surface of Ti-24Nb-4Zr-8Sn (Ti2448) by combining sandblasting, dual acid-etching, and alkali thermal treatment. The super-hydrophilic hierarchical structure on the surface contained fine well-distributed nanopores with random microscale structures, leading to extremely high surface hydrophilicity. The sand blasting and dual acid-etching processes (SLA) and alkaline treatment (AT) resulted in the formation of microscale structures and nanopores, respectively. The formation mechanism of the hierarchical reticular porous structures was also examined. The average size of the nanopores on the surface of the SLA + AT Ti2448 sample was 86.3 nm, and the hierarchical structure contained several biocompatible components, including TiO 2 , Ti 2 ZrO, ZrTiO 4 , Nb 2 O 5 , Ti 2 O 3 , and ZrO 2 . Because of their superhydrophilic and chemically biocompatible characteristics, hierarchical Ti2448 structural candidates are expected to be more suitable as implants for successful osseointegration..

Surface Modification of Biomedical Ti and Ti Alloys: A Review on Current Advances

“…The surface roughness increased, and the surface wettability improved [52] Ti-29Nb-13Ta-4.6Zr (TNTZ) Ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification ∼150 µm (within the top ∼30 µm, a large amount of plastic deformation)…”

“…As shown in Figure 2 , recently researchers have studied various advanced methods to modify the surface of Ti and Ti alloys, such as ultra-grain refinement, physical vapor deposition (PVD), micro-arc oxidation (MAO), electrochemical treatments, etc. [ 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ]. Table 1 lists several commonly used Ti and Ti alloys, along with research works on their surface modification.…”