Novel template synthesis, microstructure, and in vitro biocompatibility of titania hollow microspheres

• Chitosan/gelatin microspheres as novel sacrificial templates were prepared. • TiO 2 hollow microspheres were synthesized via a template sol-gel route. • They were spherical in morphology and presented a hollow structure. • They were biocompatible to favor cell attachment and proliferation. In this study, TiO 2 hollow microspheres were synthesized by deposition of TiO 2 on the chitosan/gelatin microspheres with a subsequent sintering process for removal of organic components. The as-synthesized microspheres are characterized with SEM, EDS, FT-IR and XRD. The results show that TiO 2 hollow microspheres were spherical in morphology with a diameter of 50–300 µm and possessed a hollow structure with a shell thickness of 500–600 nm. It is found that the chitosan/gelatin microspheres served as both supporting matrix and sacrificial templates for formation of hollow microspheres. MTT assays quantitatively indicate that TiO 2 hollow microspheres favored the attachment of fibroblast L929 cells and promoted cell proliferation with increasing culture time.