The influence of nano-scale surface roughness on bacterial adhesion to ultrafine-grained titanium.

We discuss the effect of extreme grain refinement in the bulk of commercial purity titanium (CP, Grade-2) on bacterial attachment to the mechano-chemically polished surfaces of the material. The ultrafine crystallinity of the bulk was achieved by severe plastic deformation by means of equal channel angular pressing (ECAP). The chemical composition, wettability, surface topography and roughness of titanium surfaces were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and water contact angle (WCA) measurements, as well as atomic force microscopy (AFM) with 3D interactive visualization of the titanium surface morphology.

Effect of ultrafine-grained titanium surfaces on adhesion of bacteria.

The influence of the ultrafine crystallinity of commercial purity grade 2 (as-received) titanium and titanium modified by equal channel angular pressing (modified titanium) on bacterial attachment was studied. A topographic profile analysis of the surface of the modified titanium revealed a complex morphology of the surface. Its prominent micro- and nano-scale features were 100-200-nm-scale undulations with 10-15 microm spacing.