Surface Characteristic of Pure Titanium Sandblasted with Irregular Zirconia Particles and Acid-Etched

Irregular alumina (IAl2O3) is widely used in the procedure of sandblasting with large grit and acid-etching (SLA) which has been confirmed as a favorable surface treatment for implant to improve osseointegration. However, IAl2O3 with cytotoxic has been found residual on implant surfaces after modification and thought to be a potential threaten to implants' long-term survival. Due to its similar shape and excellent biocompatibility, irregular zirconia (IZrO2) was used as sandblast particle in the present study to compare the different characteristic between IZrO(2)SLA and IAl(2)O(3)SLA surfaces. SEM, optical profilometry and XRF analysis were performed for comparison of surface characteristic. Combined with acid-etching, IZrO2 could generate suitable primary and secondary roughness with, respectively, 10-30 mu m pits and 1-3 mu m micro pits. Three-dimensional roughness parameters (S-u, S-z, S-dr and S-ds) revealed that because of the lower Vickers hardness and higher Specific gravity of IZrO2, IZrO(2)SLA surface was less rough than IAl(2)O(3)SLA surface. Meanwhile, resulted from its different physical properties, IZrO2 (0.13 +/- 0.07%) was detected significantly less on IZrO(2)SLA surface than IAl2O3 (6.74 +/- 0.74%) on IAl(2)O(3)SLA surface. Therefore, IZrO(2)SLA could easily prepare titanium surface with suitable multi-level morphology and moderate roughness for osseointegration. Furthermore, fewer sandblast particles residual on IZrO(2)SLA surface, worries from harmful residue could be greatly reduced due to the biocompatibility of IZrO2. [doi:10.2320/matertrans.M2011291]