Early osteoblastic activity on TiO(2) thin films decorated with flower-like hierarchical Au structures

Titanium alloys are the most commonly used dental and orthopedic implant materials due to their proven biocompatibility and mechanical properties. The native oxide layer (TiO(2) layer) formed on such Ti-based implants acts as the self-protecting layer against possible ion release. Increasing the oxide layer thickness further on such TiO(2) implants even opens the triggering of the osseointegration process if the oxide layer is having a certain degree of roughness, preferably higher. This work reports a novel photocatalytic patterning of sputter deposited TiO(2) layers with flower-like Au structures to enhance the early osteoblastic activity. The prepared hierarchical Au structures, composed of micro- and nanoscale features on the top, lead to improved number of filopodia formation. This suggest that proposed Au–TiO(2) surface may foster the cell attachment and as well as cell proliferation.