The effect of surface treatments on the adhesion of electrochemically deposited hydroxyapatite coating to titanium and on its interaction with cells and bacteria.

The effect of different mechanical and chemical pre-treatments on the adhesion strength of hydroxyapatite (HAp) coating on a commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti) substrate was studied by means of a standard tensile test followed by microscopic and chemical analysis to determine the locus of fracture. In addition, the effects of either these pre-treatments or post-treatment by low-energy electron irradiation, which allowed tuning the wettability of the surface, on both osteoblast progenitor attachment and S. aureus bacteria attachment were investigated. A dedicated program was developed for unambiguous identification and count of stained cells. A single-phase HAp coating was formed by electrodeposition. A series of surface pre-treatments consisted of grinding down to P1000, etching in HNO3/HF solution, grit blast, soaking in NaOH and subsequent heat treatment provided the highest adhesion strength to the HAp coating. Osteoblast progenitors derived from rats may be attached preferentially to a hydrophilic surface (post-treatment to θ = 30°), while the bacteria seemed to be less attached to hydrophobic surfaces (post-treatment to θ = 105°). However, the results were not statistically different. The bacteria seemed to be less attached to the smoother, uncoated surfaces.

Blue luminescence based on quantum confinement at peptide nanotubes.

We report on observation of photoluminescence (PL) in blue and UV regions of exciton origin in bioinspired material-peptide nanotubes (PNTs). Steplike optical absorption and PL measurements have allowed finding quantum confined (QC) phenomenon in PNTs. The estimations show that QC in these nanotubes occurs due to a crystalline structure of subnanometer scale dimension formed under the self-assembly process. Our new findings pave the way for the integration of PNT in a new generation of optical devices. A blue PL array of a PNT-patterned device is demonstrated.

The effect of surface treatment on the surface texture and contact angle of electrochemically deposited hydroxyapatite coating and on its interaction with bone-forming cells.

This work demonstrates the effects of both surface preparation and surface post-treatment by exposure to electron beam on the surface texture, contact angle and the interaction with bone-forming cells of electrochemically deposited hydroxyapatite (HAp) coating. Both the surface texture and the contact angle of the ground titanium substrate changed as a result of either heat treatment following soaking in NaOH solution or soaking in H(2)O(2) solution. Consequently, the shape of the current transients during potentiostatic deposition of HAp changed, and the resulting coatings exhibited different surface textures and contact angles. The developed interfacial area ratio Sdr and the core fluid retention index Sci were found more reliable than the mean roughness R(a) and the root-mean-square roughness Z(rms) in correlating the adhesion of the coating to the metal substrate and the cellular response with surface texture. The NaOH pretreatment provided the highest surface area and induced the highest cell attachment, even though the H(2)O(2) treatment provided the highest hydrophilicity to the metal substrate. Electrodeposition at pH 6 was found preferable compared to electrodeposition at pH 4.2. The ability to modify the cellular response by exposure to unique electron-beam surface treatment was demonstrated. The very high hydrophilicity of the as-deposited HAp coating enhanced its bioactivity.

Self-assembled arrays of peptide nanotubes by vapour deposition.

The use of bionanostructures in real-world applications will require precise control over biomolecular self-assembly and the ability to scale up production of these materials. A significant challenge is to control the formation of large, homogeneous arrays of bionanostructures on macroscopic surfaces. Previously, bionanostructure formation has been based on the spontaneous growth of heterogenic populations in bulk solution. Here, we demonstrate the self-assembly of large arrays of aromatic peptide nanotubes using vapour deposition methods. This approach allows the length and density of the nanotubes to be fine-tuned by carefully controlling the supply of the building blocks from the gas phase. Furthermore, we show that the nanotube arrays can be used to develop high-surface-area electrodes for energy storage applications, highly hydrophobic self-cleaning surfaces and microfluidic chips.

Electronic states spectroscopy of hydroxyapatite ceramics.

Photoluminescence, surface photovoltage spectroscopy and high-resolution characterization methods (Atomic Force Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, X-ray spectroscopy and DC conductivity) are applied to nanostructured Hydroxyapatite (HAp) bioceramics and allowed to study electron (hole) energy states spectra of the HAp and distinguish bulk and surface localized levels. The measured trap spectra show strong sensitivity to preliminary heat treatment of the ceramics. It is assumed that found deep electron (hole) charged states are responsible for high bioactivity of the HAp nanoceramics.