Calcium phosphate interactions with titanium oxide and alumina substrates: an XPS study

Besides the excellent mechanical properties of titanium and alumina (Al(2)O(3)) in the case of load bearing applications, their bone-bonding properties are very different. In osseous environment, Al(2)O(3) ceramic is encapsulated by fibrous tissues, whereas bone can bind directly to titanium, via its natural titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) passivation layer. So far, this calcification dissimilarity between TiO(2) and Al(2)O(3) was attributed to respectively their negative and positive surface charge under physiological conditions. The present study aims at studying the chemical interactions between TiO(2) and Al(2)O(3) (phase alpha) with the diverse ions contained in simulated body fluids (SBFs) buffered with trishydroxymethyl aminomethane (TRIS) at pH=6.0 and pH=7.4. After 1 h of immersion, TiO(2) and alpha-Al(2)O(3) powders were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicated that Ca and HPO(4) groups were present on TiO(2) surface. In addition, HPO(4) groups were found to be in a higher amount than Ca on TiO(2), which does not comply with the surface charge theory. With regard to Al(2)O(3), little HPO(4) but no Ca was detected on its surface, and TRIS bound to Al(2)O(3) substrate in all of the immersion experiments. The fact that both Ca and HPO(4) were present at the vicinity of TiO(2) might be at the origin of its calcification ability. On the other hand, Al(2)O(3) did not show any affinity towards Ca and HPO(4) ions. This might explain the inability of Al(2)O(3) substrate to calcify.