Department of Electrochemistry, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of Zagreb, Marulićev trg 19, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Division of Physical Chemistry, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička Cesta 54, 10002 Zagreb, Croatia.
Molecules. 2024 Sep 3;29(17):4181. doi: 10.3390/molecules29174181.
Although titanium and its alloys are widely used as dental implants, they cannot induce the formation of new bone around the implant, which is a basis for the functional integrity and long-term stability of implants. This study focused on the functionalization of the titanium/titanium oxide surface as the gold standard for dental implants, with electrospun composite fibers consisting of polyvinylpyrrolidone and Ca ions. Polymer fibers as carriers of Ca ions should gradually dissolve, releasing Ca ions into the environment of the implant when it is immersed in a model electrolyte of artificial saliva. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the successful formation of a porous network of composite fibers on the titanium/titanium oxide surface. The mechanism of the formation of the composite fibers was investigated in detail by quantum chemical calculations at the density functional theory level based on the simulation of possible molecular interactions between Ca ions, polymer fibers and titanium substrate. During the 7-day immersion of the functionalized titanium in artificial saliva, the processes on the titanium/titanium oxide/composite fibers/artificial saliva interface were monitored by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. It can be concluded from all the results that the composite fibers formed on titanium have application potential for the development of osteoinductive and thus more biocompatible dental implants.
尽管钛及其合金被广泛用作牙科植入物，但它们不能诱导植入物周围新骨的形成，这是植入物功能完整性和长期稳定性的基础。本研究专注于将钛/氧化钛表面功能化，作为牙科植入物的金标准，使用由聚乙烯吡咯烷酮和 Ca 离子组成的电纺复合纤维。聚合物纤维作为 Ca 离子的载体，在植入物浸入人工唾液模型电解质中时，应该会逐渐溶解，并将 Ca 离子释放到植入物的环境中。扫描电子显微镜、能谱 X 射线和衰减全反射傅里叶变换红外光谱证实了复合纤维在钛/氧化钛表面成功形成了多孔网络。通过基于 Ca 离子、聚合物纤维和钛基底之间可能的分子相互作用的模拟，在密度泛函理论水平上进行量子化学计算，详细研究了复合纤维的形成机制。在功能性钛浸入人工唾液的 7 天内，通过电化学阻抗谱监测钛/氧化钛/复合纤维/人工唾液界面上的过程。从所有结果可以得出结论，在钛上形成的复合纤维有望开发出具有成骨诱导作用的、因此更具生物相容性的牙科植入物。
