title: Analysis of metal surfaces coated with europium-doped titanium dioxide by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy.
abstract: The surface passivation with titanium sol-gel coatings is a frequently used technique to control the adsorption of selected biological macromolecules and to reduce the exposure of the bulk material to biological matter. Due to the increasing number of new coating-preparation methods and new gel compositions with various types of additives, the quality and homogeneity determination of the surface covering is a critical factor affecting performance of any implanted material. While coating thickness is easy to determine, the homogeneity of the surface distribution of coating materials requires more elaborate methodologies. In the paper, the laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) based method, capable to quantitate the homogeneity and uniformity of the europium in titanium dioxide sol-gel coatings on stainless steel surfaces prepared with two different procedures: spin-coating and dip-coating, is presented. The emission intensity of titanium has been used to determine the coating thickness whereas the relative values of europium and titanium emission intensities provide data on the coating homogeneity. The obtained results show that the spin-coating technique provides better surface coverage with titanium dioxide. However, when the surface coating compositions were compared the dip-coating technique was more reliable.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Biophysics of Lipid Aggregates, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation, Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Daria
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Głogocka
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Biophysics of Lipid Aggregates, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation, Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Noculak
authors.affiliation: Bio-Optics Group, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation, Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pucińska
authors.affiliation: Bio-Optics Group, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation, Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jopek
authors.affiliation: Bio-Optics Group, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation, Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Halina
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Podbielska
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Biophysics of Lipid Aggregates, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation, Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Langner
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Biophysics of Lipid Aggregates, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation, Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Przybyło
mesh_terms: D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible / Q000737:chemistry*; D005063:Europium / Q000737:chemistry*; D007834:Lasers; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D013499:Surface Properties; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; C009495:titanium dioxide; D005063:Europium; D014025:Titanium