Titanium and titanium alloys are widely used in biomedical devices and components, especially as hard tissue replacements as well as in cardiac and cardiovascular applications, because of their desirable properties, such as relatively low modulus, good fatigue strength, formability, machinability, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility. However, titanium and its alloys cannot meet all of the clinical requirements. Therefore, in order to improve the biological, chemical, and mechanical properties, surface modification is often performed. This article reviews the various surface modification technologies pertaining to titanium and titanium alloys including mechanical treatment, thermal spraying, sol–gel, chemical and electrochemical treatment, and ion implantation from the perspective of biomedical engineering. Recent work has shown that the wear resistance, corrosion resistance, and biological properties of titanium and titanium alloys can be improved selectively using the appropriate surface treatment techniques while the desirable bulk attributes of the materials are retained. The proper surface treatment expands the use of titanium and titanium alloys in the biomedical fields. Some of the recent applications are also discussed in this paper.

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Surface modification of titanium, titanium alloys, and related materials for biomedical applications

TiO(2) is one of the most studied compounds in materials science. Owing to some outstanding properties it is used for instance in photocatalysis, dye-sensitized solar cells, and biomedical devices. In 1999, first reports showed the feasibility to grow highly ordered arrays of TiO(2) nanotubes by a simple but optimized electrochemical anodization of a titanium metal sheet. This finding stimulated intense research activities that focused on growth, modification, properties, and applications of these one-dimensional nanostructures. This review attempts to cover all these aspects, including underlying principles and key functional features of TiO(2), in a comprehensive way and also indicates potential future directions of the field.

TiO2 nanotubes: synthesis and applications.

A review on highly ordered, vertically oriented TiO2 nanotube arrays: Fabrication, material properties, and solar energy applications

Nanotubular material surfaces produced by the electrochemical formation of self-organized porous structures on materials such as aluminum and silicon have attracted significant interest in recent years. While scientific thrust is often directed towards the elucidation of the principles of the self-organization phenomena, technological efforts target applications based on the direct use of the high surface area, for example, for sensing 6] or controlled catalysis, exploit the optical properties in photonic crystals, waveguides, or in 3D arranged Bragg-stack type of reflectors. The highly organized structures may be used indirectly as templates for the deposition of other materials such as metals, semiconductors, or polymers. Over the past few years, nanoporous TiO2 structures have also been formed by electrochemical anodization of titanium. Although several applications have been proposed, a wider impact of these structures has been hampered by the fact that the layers could only been grown to a limiting thickness of a few hundreds of nanometers. Herein we demonstrate for the first time how high-aspectratio, self-organized, TiO2 films can be grown by tailoring the electrochemical conditions during titanium anodization. Figure 1 shows scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of self-organized porous titanium oxide formed to a thickness of approximately 2.5 mm in 1m (NH4)2SO4 electrolyte containing 0.5 wt.% NH4F. From the SEM images it is evident that the self-organized regular porous structure consists of pore arrays with a uniform pore diameter of approximately 100 nm and an average spacing of 150 nm. It is also clear that pore mouths are open on the top of the layer while on the bottom of the structure the tubes are closed by presence of an about 50-nm thick barrier layer of TiO2. The key to achieve high-aspect-ratio growth is to adjust the dissolution rate of TiO2 by localized acidification at the pore bottom while a protective environment is maintained along the pore walls and at the pore mouth. In our previous work in HF and NaF solutions it was established that the thickness of the porous layer is essentially the result of an equilibrium between electrochemical formation of TiO2 at the pore bottom and the chemical dissolution of this TiO2 in an F ion containing solution (Figure 2). The solubility of TiO2 in HF, forming [TiF6] 2 , is essential for pore formation, however, it is also the reason that previous attempts to form porous layers in HF electrolytes always resulted in layer thicknesses in the range of some 100 nm. We tackled the problem by controlling the self-induced acidification of the pore bottom that is caused by the electrochemical dissolution of the metal (Figure 2 a–c). Main reason for the localized acidification is the oxidation and hydrolysis of elemental titanium [Eq. (1), in Figure 2]. The chemical dissolution rate of TiO2 is highly dependent on the pH value (see Figure 2 d). Using a numerical simulation of the relevant ion fluxes we can construct the pH profile in the pore (such as in Figure 2b), in other words, the ideal ion flux for the desired pH profile can then be determined. Furthermore we can tune the dissolution rate by the dissolution current. In other words, using a buffered neutral solution as electrolyte and adjusting the anodic current flow to an ideal value, acid can be created where it is needed, that is, at the pore bottom, while higher pH values are established at the pore mouth as a result of migration and diffusion effects of the pH buffer species (NH4F, (NH4)2SO4). Assuming equilibrium, the flux of dissolving species (leading to acidification at the pore bottom) and the flux of buffering species are equal. The calculations show that for the experimental conditions given in Figure 1 the pH value at the pore bottom is around 2 and increase to about 5 at the pore mouth, this corresponds to a drop in the local chemical etch rate of about 20 times. We used a voltage-sweep technique to achieve a steadystate current and to establish the desired pH profile. The reason to use a voltage-sweep technique rather than a Figure 1. SEM images of porous titanium oxide nanotubes. The crosssectional (a), top (b), and bottom (c) views of a 2.5-mm thick selforganized porous layer. The titanium sample was anodized up to 20 V in 1m (NH4)2SO4 + 0.5 wt. % NH4F using a potential sweep from open-circuit potential to 20 V with sweep rate 0.1 Vs . The average pore diameter is approximately 100 nm and the average pore spacing is approximately 150 nm.

High‐Aspect‐Ratio TiO2 Nanotubes by Anodization of Titanium

We generated, on titanium surfaces, self-assembled layers of vertically oriented TiO2 nanotubes with defined diameters between 15 and 100 nm and show that adhesion, spreading, growth, and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells are critically dependent on the tube diameter. A spacing less than 30 nm with a maximum at 15 nm provided an effective length scale for accelerated integrin clustering/focal contact formation and strongly enhances cellular activities compared to smooth TiO2 surfaces. Cell adhesion and spreading were severely impaired on nanotube layers with a tube diameter larger than 50 nm, resulting in dramatically reduced cellular activity and a high extent of programmed cell death. Thus, on a TiO2 nanotube surface, a lateral spacing geometry with openings of 30−50 nm represents a critical borderline for cell fate.

Valérie Zwilling

Papers

Anodic oxidation of titanium and TA6V alloy in chromic media. An electrochemical approach