A high bioactive alkali-treated titanium surface induced by induction heat treatment

Alkali-heat treated titanium induces the rapid hydroxyapatite (HA) deposition on its surface and showed obviously improved in vitro and in vivo properties. In this study, the pure titanium is subjected to alkali washing and induction heat treatment (IHT) to form a hierarchical micro-nano scale porous structure on the sample surface. The morphology, phase, roughness, wettability, adhesive strength of the coating with the substrate and in vitro HA deposition were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM), contact angle measurement, nanomechanical test instrument and immersion in 1.5 x SBF, respectively. The results show that compare with heating in the furnace (FH) of acid-etched and alkali-treated (SLAA) samples, a more uniform and porous surface with improved roughness, wettability, and adhesive strength of the coating with the substrate were achieved by IHT. Especially, the high in vitro bioactivity indicated by rapid HA deposition was obtained by IHT of the SLAA surface. Given the above, this research of the alkali-heated titanium fabricated by induction heating may promote a more potential clinical application of the alkali-heat treatment.