title: Electrochemical coating of dental implants with anodic porous titania for enhanced osteointegration.
abstract: Clinical long-term osteointegration of titanium-based biomedical devices is the main goal for both dental and orthopedical implants. Both the surface morphology and the possible functionalization of the implant surface are important points. In the last decade, following the success of nanostructured anodic porous alumina, anodic porous titania has also attracted the interest of academic researchers. This material, investigated mainly for its photocatalytic properties and for applications in solar cells, is usually obtained from the anodization of ultrapure titanium. We anodized dental implants made of commercial grade titanium under different experimental conditions and characterized the resulting surface morphology with scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer. The appearance of nanopores on these implants confirm that anodic porous titania can be obtained not only on ultrapure and flat titanium but also as a conformal coating on curved surfaces of real objects made of industrial titanium alloys. Raman spectroscopy showed that the titania phase obtained is anatase. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that by carrying out the anodization in the presence of electrolyte additives such as magnesium, these can be incorporated into the porous coating. The proposed method for the surface nanostructuring of biomedical implants should allow for integration of conventional microscale treatments such as sandblasting with additive nanoscale patterning. Additional advantages are provided by this material when considering the possible loading of bioactive drugs in the porous cavities.
authors.affiliation: Nanophysics Department, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, via Morego 30, 16149 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Amirreza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shayganpour
authors.affiliation: Rebaudi Dental Office, piazza della Vittoria 8, 16121 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rebaudi
authors.affiliation: Odontosalute, via Edmondo de Amicis 2, 16122 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Pierpaolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cortella
authors.affiliation: Nanophysics Department, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, via Morego 30, 16149 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Diaspro
authors.affiliation: Nanophysics Department, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, via Morego 30, 16149 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salerno
keywords: anodization; dental implants; nanopores; surface treatment; titania