Dose-dependent enhancement of bioactivity by surface ZnO nanostructures on acid-etched pure titanium

Zinc (Zn) is found to be essential in biologic osseous functions, and deficiency of Zn may cause delayed skeletal growth and osteoporosis. Additionally, Zn-based coatings are reported to be effective to promote the bioactivity of implants. In this study, we employed the hydrothermal treatment to incorporate Zn into the surface of acid-etched pure Ti. The process was conducted in ammonia solution with an increased Zn precursor concentration (0.0002 M, 0.002 M and 0.02 M, respectively). XPS analysis demonstrated that the nanostructures were composed of ZnO. Proliferation and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of osteoblast-like SaOS-2 cells were enhanced dose-dependently, compared to those on the acid-etched pure Ti without ZnO nanostructures. This study addresses a favourable surface modification method to improve the bioactivity of implants.