title: Biocompatibility assessment of spark plasma-sintered alumina-titanium cermets.
abstract: Alumina-titanium materials (cermets) of enhanced mechanical properties have been lately developed. In this work, physical properties such as electrical conductivity and the crystalline phases in the bulk material are evaluated. As these new cermets manufactured by spark plasma sintering may have potential application for hard tissue replacements, their biocompatibility needs to be evaluated. Thus, this research aims to study the cytocompatibility of a novel alumina-titanium (25 vol. % Ti) cermet compared to its pure counterpart, the spark plasma sintered alumina. The influence of the particular surface properties (chemical composition, roughness and wettability) on the pre-osteoblastic cell response is also analyzed. The material electrical resistance revealed that this cermet may be machined to any shape by electroerosion. The investigated specimens had a slightly undulated topography, with a roughness pattern that had similar morphology in all orientations (isotropic roughness) and a sub-micrometric average roughness. Differences in skewness that implied valley-like structures in the cermet and predominance of peaks in alumina were found. The cermet presented a higher surface hydrophilicity than alumina. Any cytotoxicity risk associated with the new materials or with the innovative manufacturing methodology was rejected. Proliferation and early-differentiation stages of osteoblasts were statistically improved on the composite. Thus, our results suggest that this new multifunctional cermet could improve current alumina-based biomedical devices for applications such as hip joint replacements.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Estudios Biofuncionales, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guzman
authors.affiliation: Nanomaterials & Nanotechnology Research Center (CINN), [Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Universidad de Oviedo (UO), Principado de Asturias (PA)], Asturias, Spain e.fernandez@cinn.es.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fernandez-García
authors.affiliation: Nanomaterials & Nanotechnology Research Center (CINN), [Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Universidad de Oviedo (UO), Principado de Asturias (PA)], Asturias, Spain.
authors.forename: Carlos F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Gutierrez-Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: Nanomaterials & Nanotechnology Research Center (CINN), [Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Universidad de Oviedo (UO), Principado de Asturias (PA)], Asturias, Spain.
authors.forename: Adolfo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Estudios Biofuncionales, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Jose Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Lopez-Lacomba
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lopez-Esteban
mesh_terms: D000537:Aluminum Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D018786:Bone Substitutes / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000502:physiology; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D016722:Cermet Cements / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D006244:Hardness; D008422:Materials Testing; D051379:Mice; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D058626:Plasma Gases / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D018786:Bone Substitutes; D016722:Cermet Cements; D058626:Plasma Gases; C009495:titanium dioxide; D014025:Titanium; D000537:Aluminum Oxide
keywords: Biocompatibility; alumina-titanium composite; osteoblasts; spark plasma sintering; surface properties