Nano‐topographical control of ti‐nb‐zr alloy surfaces for enhanced osteoblastic response

Nano‐scale surface roughening of metallic bio‐implants plays an important role in the clinical success of hard tissue reconstruction and replacement. In this study, the nano‐topographical features of titanium‐niobium‐zirconium (TNZ) alloy surfaces were controlled by using the targetion induced plasma sputtering (TIPS) technique to improve the in vitro osteoblastic response. The TIPS technique is a novel strategy for etching the surface of metallic bio‐implants using bombardment of target metal cations, which were accelerated by an extremely high negative bias voltage applied to the substrates. The nano‐topography of the TNZ surfaces was successfully controlled by modulating experimental variables (such as the ion etching energy and the type of substrate or target materials) of TIPS. As a result, various nanopatterns (size: 10–210 nm) were fabricated on the surface of the TNZ alloys. Compared with the control group, experimental groups with nanopattern widths of ≥130 nm (130 and 210 nm groups) exhibited superior cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. Our findings demonstrate that TIPS is a promising technology that can impart excellent biological functions to the surface of metallic bio‐implants.