Thermally grown TiO2 nanowires to improve cell growth and proliferation on titanium based materials

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanowires (NWs) grown by thermal oxidation were investigated as a means of improving cell adhesion and proliferation of human osteosarcoma (HOS) cells on Ti 6 wt% Al–4 wt% V (Ti64) substrates. The TiO2 NWs were grown on thermally spray coated Ti64 by a simple oxidation process. HOS cell proliferation was observed on bare Ti64 and both nanostructured and non-nanostructured TiO2 surfaces by fluorescence microscopy and laser scanning cytometry (LSC). The alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of the HOS cells was also monitored at regular intervals. The NW coated samples showed increased cell adhesion and proliferation compared to the non-nanostructured TiO2 and Ti64 samples. This investigation has demonstrated the feasibility of using a simple oxidation process to produce NWs as a means of coating Ti64 based devices to increase cell adhesion and proliferation.