2D magnesium phosphate resorbable coating to enhance cell adhesion on titanium surfaces

Titanium and its alloys are essential metals for orthopedic implant manufacturing due to their exceptional mechanical properties and biocompatibility, used extensively for treating various orthopedic conditions. However, Titanium (Ti) implants have a disadvantage due to lack of bioactivity, potentially affecting osseointegration and osteoconductive capabilities, and may take several months to integrate with bone tissue. In this work, we prepared a layer of 2D magnesium phosphate (MgPi) coating on the surface of titanium surfaces via the spin-coating technique. Various techniques were used to study the phase composition of the coatings, including FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, NMR, and XRD analysis. Morphology and chemical analysis were performed using Atomic force microscopy and SEM/EDX. Nano-scratch test and water contact angle measurements were used to measure adhesion strength and wettability. In addition, in vitro cell assays were used to assess cell adhesion and viability to determine how the MC3T3-E1 osteoblast-like cells reacted to the different treated Ti substrates. AFM results showed that the surface roughness became lower after coatings. MgPi-coated samples showed higher hydrophilicity, protein adsorption, and cell viability than uncoated samples. The nano-scratch test showed that the MgPi coating showed better adherence to chemically and thermally treated samples compared to untreated samples. The deposited MgPi coating has good adhesion to the Ti-substrates. Most significantly, compared to uncoated control (Ti) (p < 0.005) and chemically treated coated samples CT-MgPi (p < 0.005), MC3T3-E1 cell proliferation was significantly increased on thermochemical coated surfaces. These findings point to resorbable two-dimensional MgPi coatings as a potential candidate for promoting Ti implant osseointegration.