How surface relief affects wettability and cell behavior on ultra-short laser-textured surfaces?

Ilemona S Omeje (1) , Tatiana E Itina (1)

1 LHC - Laboratoire Hubert Curien

Femtosecond lasers are known to be versatile tools capable to form a variety of hierarchical micro and nanostructures on solid surfaces allowing efficient control over various surface properties. Among these properties, wettability plays a crucial role in the development of numerous applications not only in the industry but also in the biomedical field. Among other factors, wettability strongly affects the behavior of cells, bacteria, and even viruses. A controllable modulation of the wetting properties affects both osseointegration and mechanotransduction, which are known to be key processes in dental and orthopedic implant integration, as well as in bioengineering in general. Despite a large number of promising experimental results, it is still unclear how to predict and explain the wettability of laser-textured surfaces. The classical models, such as the Wenzel and Cassie-Baxter, contain adjustable parameters and provide only rough explanations. The development of more realistic models remains challenging because of the lack of understanding of the effects of both surface and liquid properties on the behavior of a liquid droplet on the surface. In particular, the difficulty arises from the change in surface wettability with time after laser treatment. To better understand this process, we use continuum-level modeling [1] to study the wetting dynamics of a liquid droplet on laser-textured Ti, and Ti alloys, as well as on several other surfaces. The droplet dynamics and the calculated evolutions of the contact angle with time for both structured and non-structured surfaces are examined and compared to a set of experiments [2]. Our results demonstrate the role of surface relief and composition. Several explanations are proposed based on the performed modeling, which is shown to be not only suitable for a better understanding of the process involved but can be also used for implant relief optimization. REFERENCES: [1] S.F Kisler, Hydrodynamics of wetting, JC Berg (Ed.) Wettability, New York, 1993 [2] S. I. Omeje, T.E. Itina Numerical Study of the Wetting Dynamics of Solid Surfaces Textured by Femtosecond Laser: Beyond Classical Wenzel and Cassie-Baxter Model, E-MRS 2021, Symposium H, June 1st, 2021

Domaines: Physique [physics]

Ilemona S Omeje, Tatiana E Itina. How surface relief affects wettability and cell behavior on ultra-short laser-textured surfaces?. V International Conference on Ultrafast Optical Science, Ultrafastlight, Moscow, Russia, October 2021, Oct 2021, Moscow, on-line, Russia. ⟨ujm-03829708⟩