Changes in surface characteristics of titanium and zirconia after surface treatment with ultraviolet light or non‐thermal plasma

Abstract

Positive effects of irradiation with ultraviolet (UV) light or treatment with non-thermal plasma on titanium and zirconia surfaces have been described in various studies. The aim of this study was to assess and compare the changes in the physicochemical surface conditions of titanium and zirconia surfaces after a short treatment with UV light or with non-thermal plasmas of argon or oxygen. Titanium and zirconia samples with moderately rough surfaces were treated for 12 min either in a UV-light oven or in a non-thermal plasma reactor that generates non-thermal plasmas of oxygen or argon. Changes in surface conditions were assessed by confocal microscopy, dynamic contact angle measurement, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). No changes in roughness occurred. Ultraviolet irradiation and non-thermal plasma significantly increased the wettability of the titanium and zirconia surfaces. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed an increase of oxygen and a significant decrease of carbon after treatment with either method. Thus, ultraviolet light and non-thermal plasma were found to be able to improve the chemical surface conditions of titanium and zirconia following a short exposure time. However, further in vitro and in vivo studies are needed to determine the relevance of the results.

Decontamination of Ti Oxide Surfaces by Using Ultraviolet Light: Hg-Vapor vs. LED-Based Irradiation

“…As far as the duration of the irradiation is concerned, it was chosen to be 12 min, like several other published works [31,63]. These works reported decontamination results similar to ours, which were ascribed to the reverse results of the biological ageing of titanium and confirm the effectivity of UVC light treatment by using different light sources.…”

Influence of nonthermal argon plasma on the shear bond strength between zirconia and different adhesives and luting composites after artificial aging

“…Liu et al 27 identified nonthermal plasma as a cost effective method for surface modification to improve bond strength for clinical and dental laboratory use. Henningsen et al 28 showed that treatment of zirconia with nonthermal plasma improves the wettability and the physicochemical surface conditions of zirconia and titanium.…”

Effects of Plasma Treatment on the Bioactivity of Alkali-Treated Ceria-Stabilised Zirconia/Alumina Nanocomposite (NANOZR)

“…Currently, functionalization of the biological material surface to improve biocompatibility is being used to strengthen biologically equivalent coatings [ 40 , 41 , 42 ]. The relationship between plasma treatment of implant material surfaces and hard-tissue formation has been reported in several studies [ 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ]. In the past few decades, several methods have been used to generate plasma at near-atmospheric and ambient temperatures, such as radio frequency plasma [ 47 ], dielectric barrier discharge plasma [ 48 ], corona discharge plasma [ 49 ], and glide arc discharge plasma [ 50 ].…”