Beta-Titanium Alloy Covered by Ferroelectric Coating–Physicochemical Properties and Human Osteoblast-Like Cell Response

Beta-titanium alloys are promising materials for bone implants due to their advantageous mechanical properties. For enhancing the interaction of bone cells with this perspective material, we developed a ferroelectric barium titanate (BaTiO3) coating on a Ti39Nb alloy by hydrothermal synthesis. This coating was analyzed by scanning electron and Raman microscopy, X-ray diffraction, piezoresponse force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, nanoindentation, and roughness measurement. Leaching experiments in a saline solution revealed that Ba is released from the coating. A progressive decrease of Ba concentration in the material was also found after 1, 3, and 7 days of cultivation of human osteoblast-like Saos-2 cells. On day 1, the Saos-2 cells adhered on the BaTiO3 film in higher initial numbers than on the bare alloy, but they were less spread, and their initial proliferation rate was slower. These cells also contained a lower amount of beta1-integrins and vinculin, i.e., molecules involved in cell adhesion, and produced a lower amount of collagen I. This cell behavior was attributed to a higher surface roughness of BaTiO3 film rather than to its potential cytotoxicity, because the cell viability on this film was very high, reaching almost 99%. The amount of alkaline phosphatase, an enzyme involved in bone matrix mineralization, was similar in cells on the BaTiO3-coated and uncoated alloy, and on day 7, the cells on BaTiO3 film attained a higher final cell population density. These results indicate that after some improvements, particularly in its roughness and stability, the hydrothermal ferroelectric BaTiO3 film could be promising coating for improved osseointegration of bone implants.

Structure, ferroelectric and energy density properties of BaTiO3 film capacitors for energy storage applications

Single-perovskite lead-free BaTiO3 ferroelectric films were synthesized on Nb:SrTiO3 substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The microstructure, ferroelectric, electric-field breakdown strength, and energy-storage properties of films were investigated. The remnant polarization [Formula: see text] reached the higher values of 34.79 [Formula: see text]C/cm2. The recoverable energy-storage density [Formula: see text] is 12.30 J/cm3. The results also reveal that rapid thermal processing (RTP) enhances the ferroelectric and energy storage properties of the film by comparison with unannealed, and ferroelectric and energy storage properties exhibit a strong voltage dependence.

CONDENSER STRUCTURES BASED ON BARIUM TITANATE FILMS FORMED BY SOL-GEL METHOD

The objective of the work is investigation the dielectric permittivity and dielectric loss tangent of BaTiO3 films in a capacitor structure formed by sol – gel method on a Si/TiOx/Pt substrate. The basis of this capacitor is a four-layer film of barium titanate xerogel with a thickness of about 200 nm. The film was synthesized by sol-gel method at a final annealing temperature 750 °C. The problems related to the development of method of forming multilayer capacitor structures, the analysis of the morphology and phase composition of BaTiO3 film, and also the measurement of the capacitance-voltage characteristics in the frequency range 10 kHz – 2 MHz have been solved. Morphology of the films was analyzed using a Hitachi S-4800 scanning electron microscope. X-ray diffraction spectra was recorded using a DRON-3 automated diffractometer, using monochromatic CuKα radiation. Capacitance-voltage characteristics were obtained using a B1500A semiconductor analyzer. Dielectric constant and dielectric loss tangent, calculated for capacitance measurements, are changed as follows: for a bias voltage of U = 0 V, the change in ε is 232–214, and tanδ 0.022–0.16, and for a bias voltage of U = 10 V, ε occurs in the range 135–124 and tanδ from 0.02 to 0.1. The obtained frequency dependences of the dielectric constant of BaTiO3 films show a decrease in the dielectric constant in the range of 10 kHz – 2 MHz. It was found that, with a BaTiO3 film thickness of less than 100 nm, a thin-film capacitor with a lower platinum electrode is not always formed, which is probably caused by shunting of the structure.