Fabrication of porous micro-nanostructured networks on Ti6Al4V for faster hydroxyapatite deposition in SBF

Abstract Surfaces with porous micro-nanostructured networks on Ti6Al4V substrates were successfully fabricated via sandblast, acid-alkali etching treatment. Wettability and hydroxyapatite (HA)-forming ability of the multilevel structured Ti6Al4V surfaces were investigated. Water contact angles and simulated body fluid (SBF) contact angles of 6 μl droplets on the resulting surfaces were as low as 0°, which could be attributed to the formation of hydrophilic TiO2 layer and larger specific surface area. Furthermore, after soaking in SBF for 1 day, a homogeneous HA layer was formed on the multilevel structured Ti6Al4V surface, whereas surface of original Ti6Al4V showed few HA precipitates even after 7 days of SBF immersion, suggesting that the fabricated structure was beneficial to faster HA deposition in SBF.