Preliminary results of osteoblast adhesion on titanium anodic films

Osteoblast adhesion on metallic titanium coated with anodic films was evaluated. The anodic oxidation treatment was carried out on commercially pure-titanium (cp-Ti) substrate under the following conditions: 1.0M H2SO4/150V and 1.0M Na2SO4/100V. Osteoblast cells were cultured onto the samples for 4 hours. The morphologies of both Ti anodic films and cells were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The oxide films are rough with porous structure. Statistical differences in average surface roughness (Ra) values are found among both anodic films and substrate (abraded cp-Ti), measured by contact profilometry. The oxide films prepared in H2SO4 had greater contact angle, whereas there is no statistical significance between the values for the Ti anodic films produced in Na2SO4 and the substrate surface. Despite the some differences in morphology, roughness and contact angle between the treated and non-treated samples, cell morphologies were similar on all surfaces after 4h of culture. Further, was not clearly observed a correlation between the surface characteristics with cell behavior.