Ativação superficial com silicato de sódio para recobrimento de titânio e suas ligas visando aplicações como biomateriais

Abstract

Throughout history, biomaterials have played a key role in improving people’s quality of life. In this context, the continuous search for the development of biomaterials of excellence is of paramount importance. In addition to commercially pure titanium, Ti-6Al-4V alloy has emerged as an interesting alternative due to its poorly reactive characteristics in biological environments. This alloy demonstrates ease in the formation of hydroxyapatite on its surface, favoring integration with bone tissue. In addition, it presents satisfactory levels of mechanical resistance and corrosion resistance, essential attributes to ensure the durability and safety of implants and prostheses used in medical and dental applications. Research has been conducted with the objective of developing coatings that aim to improve the adhesion between bone and implant through modifications in the metal surface. These modifications are intended to promote effective regeneration of bone tissue, facilitating osseointegration and accelerating bone growth. The modification of the metal surface, as the alteration of the surface roughness, aims to create favorable conditions for the biological interaction, promoting a favorable response of the bone tissue to the implant. By promoting efficient interaction between the implant and bone tissue, functional coatings can improve implant stability, reduce healing time and increase the success rate of implantation procedures, quality of life and enabling a faster and more effective recovery. In this work, we studied the effect of surface activation, through immersion in sodium silicate, titanium (TiCP) and the Ti-6Al-4V (ELI) alloy. For this, the materials went through the process of surface modification through the basic attack technique, resulting in increased roughness and aiming for better adhesion. Soon after, the substrates were activated by immersion in sodium silicate. For the present work, heat treatment was performed in some samples and two exposure times were used: 24 hours and 7 days. In the characterization of the material, scanning electron microscopy and profilometry techniques were used to analyze the surface roughness. In addition, the dispersive energy spectroscopy sensor was used to characterize the chemical composition of the material under study. The results show that the heat treatment prior to exposure to sodium silicate produces superior results in relation to the change in roughness and silicate ion deposition. Notably, samples exposed to sodium silicate for 24 hours, both commercially pure titanium (TiCP) and titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V (ELI), showed greater effectiveness in roughness parameters. These results show the best conditions for coating these materials for a future use of the biomimetic method, enabling the formation of hydroxyapatite.