Surface characteristics and osteocompatibility of titanium preserved in a ZnS@BSA-containing storage solution

Abstract This study aimed to the preparation of a storage solution containing zinc sulfide particles encapsulated in bovine serum albumin (ZnS@BSA) and its application to improve surface characteristics and osteocompatibility of pure and SLA titanium surfaces. The analysis of surface characteristics including surface topography, elemental distribution and protein amounts confirmed that ZnS@BSA particles were successfully adsorbed on the two titanium surfaces without changing the original morphology. Assays of wettability showed that titanium surfaces preserved in ZnS@BSA solution had superior hydrophilicity compared with control groups. In vitro experiments demonstrated that the titanium surfaces preserved in ZnS@BSA solution significantly promoted the proliferation, adhesion and differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells. The study therefore concluded that the ZnS@BSA solution could improve the bioactivity of titanium surface and exhibit the potential to be a new type of titanium implant storage solution.