Evaluation of Biocompatibility of Anodized and Hydrothermally Treated Pure Niobium Metal

양극산화와 열수처리한 순수 니오비움 금속의 생체활성 평가

This study was performed to investigate the surface properties of electrochemically oxidized pure niobium by anodic oxide and hydrothermal treatment technique. Niobium specimens of $10\times10mm$ in dimension were polished sequentially from #600, #800, #1000 emery paper. The surface pure niobium specimens were anodized in an electrolytic solution that was dissolved calcium and phosphate in water. The electrolytic voltage was set in the range of 250 V and the current density was 10 $mA/cm^2$. The specimen was hydrothermal treated in high-pressure steam at 300$^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours using an autoclave. Then, specimens were immersed in the Hanks' solution with pH 7.4 at 37$^{\circ}C$ for 30 days. The surface of specimen was characterized by scanning electron microscope(SEM), energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis(EDX), potentiostat/galvanostat test, and cytotoxicity test. The results obtained was summarized as follows; According to the result of measuring corrosion behavior at 0.9% NaCl, corrosion resistance was improved more specimens treated with anodic oxide than in hydrothermal treated ones. The multi-porous oxide layer on surface treated through anodic oxidation showed a structure that fine pores overlap one another, and the early precipitation of apatite was observed on the surface of hydrothermal treated samples. According to the result of EDX after 30 days deposition in Hanks' solution, Ca/P was 1.69 in hydrothermal treated specimens. In MTT test, specimens treated through anodic oxidation and hydrothermal treated ones showed spectrophotometer similar to that of the control group. Thus no significant difference in cytotoxicity was observed (P>0.05).