Low pressure radio-frequency oxygen plasma induced oxidation of titanium--surface characteristics and biological effects

Wan-Yu Tseng; Sheng-Hao Hsu; Chieh-Hsiun Huang; Yu-Chieh Tu; Shao-Chin Tseng; Hsuen-Li Chen; Min-Huey Chen; Wei-Fang Su; Li-Deh Lin

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084898

Low pressure radio-frequency oxygen plasma induced oxidation of titanium--surface characteristics and biological effects

PLoS One. 2013 Dec 26;8(12):e84898. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0084898. eCollection 2013.

Authors

Wan-Yu Tseng¹, Sheng-Hao Hsu², Chieh-Hsiun Huang³, Yu-Chieh Tu⁴, Shao-Chin Tseng⁴, Hsuen-Li Chen⁴, Min-Huey Chen¹, Wei-Fang Su⁵, Li-Deh Lin¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan ; Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
² Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁵ Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan ; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.

Abstract

Objective: This research was designed to investigate the effects of low pressure radio-frequency (RF) oxygen plasma treatment (OPT) on the surface of commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti) and Ti6Al4V. Surface topography, elemental composition, water contact angle, cell viability, and cell morphology were surveyed to evaluate the biocompatibility of titanium samples with different lengths of OP treating time.

Materials and methods: CP-Ti and Ti6Al4V discs were both classified into 4 groups: untreated, treated with OP generated by using oxygen (99.98%) for 5, 10, and 30 min, respectively. After OPT on CP-Ti and Ti6Al4V samples, scanning probe microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS), and contact angle tests were conducted to determine the surface topography, elemental composition and hydrophilicity, respectively. The change of surface morphology was further studied using sputtered titanium on silicon wafers. 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and F-actin immunofluorescence stain were performed to investigate the viability and spreading behavior of cultivated MG-63 cells on the samples.

Results: The surface roughness was most prominent after 5 min OPT in both CP-Ti and Ti6Al4V, and the surface morphology of sputtered Ti sharpened after the 5 min treatment. From the XPS results, the intensity of Ti(°), Ti(2+), and Ti(3+) of the samples' surface decreased indicating the oxidation of titanium after OPT. The water contact angles of both CP-Ti and Ti6Al4V were increased after 5 min OPT. The results of MTT assay demonstrated MG-63 cells proliferated best on the 5 min OP treated titanium sample. The F-actin immunofluorescence stain revealed the cultivated cell number of 5 min treated CP-Ti/Ti6Al4V was greater than other groups and most of the cultivated cells were spindle-shaped.

Conclusions: Low pressure RF oxygen plasma modified both the composition and the morphology of titanium samples' surface. The CP-Ti/Ti6Al4V treated with 5 min OPT displayed the roughest surface, sharpest surface profile and best biocompatibility.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cell Line, Tumor
Cell Proliferation*
Humans
Materials Testing*
Oxidation-Reduction
Oxygen / chemistry*
Radio Waves*
Surface Properties
Titanium / chemistry*

Substances

Titanium
Oxygen

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the NSC (National Science Council, Taiwan) and the National Taiwan University Hospital (NSC-100-2314-B-002-154- and NTUH.100-N1753). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.