Synthesis of TiO2 nanopore arrays by pulsed laser treatment and anodic oxidation

© 2014 Elsevier B.V. Functionalization of the Ti6Al4V alloy by combining laser texturing and anodizing has been performed. The laser texturing was carried out with a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser using 1064nm and an energy of 90mJ/pulse. After the laser treatment, nanostructured titanium anodic oxide layers have been grown in an aqueous electrolyte (H2SO4+HF). The topography and the surface morphology of the laser textured alloy without and after anodizing were characterized using an optical imaging profiler and a scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. Changes in wettability and the electrochemical stability of the modified surfaces have been also analyzed. The results show that the consecutive use of both processes allows changing the topological pattern thus developing a micro-nano topography that could selectively promote tissue cell attachment. While laser texturing promotes an important increase in the roughness due to the generation of dimples on the surface, the anodizing process fabricates a homogeneous nanoporous titanium oxide layer that it turns the surface hydrophilic. Moreover, corrosion resistance of the laser textured surface can also be improved due to the better chemical stability of the nanostructured oxide layer formed on the surface.Peer Reviewe