Effect of the micro/nanostructured topography of polyetheretherketone on the behavior of MC3T3‐E1 preosteoblasts

Abstract Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is of interest because of its excellent mechanical properties. However, the bioinert nature of PEEK limits its use in clinical applications. In this study, a series of micro/nanostructures combining nano‐, submicron‐, and microscale on PEEK were fabricated with 0.5, 1, 4, and 6 min of sulfonation time (S1, S2, S3, and S4). Compared to the flat surface on PEEK, the micro/nanostructure of different sizes all significantly promote cell adhesion, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3‐E1 cells. It is shown that micro/nano‐porous structures with smaller size and lower roughness of S1 enabled faster cell propagation. The results of alkaline phosphatase staining, alizarin red staining, and quantitative real‐time PCR reveal that the osteogenic activity of MC3T3‐E1 cells gradually decreases with the increasement of pore size, indicating that the micro/nanostructured topography of S1 generated substantially increased matrix mineralization and bone‐like nodule formation, compared to the 3D network surface. This work provides an effective strategy for designing biomaterials with potential clinical applications.