• Delgado Carrascon, Rosalia

Abstract

<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:p>The biomedical applications of ZnO are drastically limited by its intrinsicsolubility, which shortens the stability and lifetime of devices. We show thatthe functionality of ZnO in human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) studies islimited due to poor cell adhesion. The sol-gel route has been employed to obtainzinc titanate thin films for their integration as surface protective layer onZnO. These films were obtained from zinc acetate (ZnAc) and titaniumisopropoxide (TIPT). So derived xerogels were dried and their thermal evolutionstudied by TGM-DTA to identify critical annealing temperatures. The evolution ofthe microstructure and composition of spun cast films was determined by XRD andFTIR. Organic and ionic byproducts were eliminated at T&gt;300°C,which kickstarts a transformation of the amorphous materials intopolycrystalline. Thin films consisted of the ZnTiO<jats:sub>3</jats:sub> perovskite fromannealing temperatures of 500°C. Cell adhesion on the synthesizedsamples (both amorphous and crystalline) was assayed by culturing hMSCs.Immunofluorescence images of actin cytoskeleton were obtained and proliferationstudied using Ki67. Cell density, single cell area and proliferation rates onZnTiO<jats:sub>3</jats:sub> films were closer to control TiO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> surfaces thanto ZnO films. Such behavior validates the short term biocompatibility ofZnTiO<jats:sub>3</jats:sub> films and its potential use as surface layer for ZnObiomedical devices.</jats:p>

Topics

• density
• perovskite
• microstructure
• surface
• amorphous
• x-ray diffraction
• thin film
• zinc
• annealing
• biocompatibility
• differential thermal analysis