Spectroscopic analysis of titanium surface functional groups under various surface modification and their behaviors...

In the present study, surface functional groups of titanium surfaces gone through different treatments, including acid etched treatment (AE), nitric acid treatment (NT), heat treatment (HT), and alkali treatment (AT), and their behaviors in vitro and in vivo was thoroughly studied by spectroscopic analysis. In vitro and in vivo results revealed that the rank of bioactivity of various surfaces was AE < NT < HT < AT. XPS analysis indicated that AT greatly increased the OH group concentration on the titanium surface whereas HT reduced the OH group concentration. Thus, OH group difference could not be a good explanation of bioactivity difference. On the other hand, ToF-SIMS analysis demonstrated the TiOH+/Ti+ ratios of various surfaces correlated well with the bioactivity and the surface energies, which implied that Ti-OH could play an important role in the bioactivity. This detail investigation of the relationship between surface functional groups and surface bioactivity could help us to broaden the knowledge about the mechanism of bioactivity and to design next generation bioactive materials.