Self-Organization of Honeycomb-like Porous TiO2 Films by means of the Breath-Figure Method for Surface Modification of Titanium Implants

This study describes a facile breath‐figure method for the preparation of honeycomb‐like porous TiO2 films with an organometallic small‐molecule precursor. Multiple characterization techniques have been used to investigate the porous films and a mechanism for the formation process of porous TiO2 films through the breath‐figure method is proposed. The pore size of the TiO2 films could be modulated by varying the experimental parameters, such as the concentration of titanium n‐butoxide (TBT) solution, the content of cosolvent, and the air flow rate. In vitro cell‐culture experiments indicate that NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells seeded on the honeycomb‐like porous TiO2 films show good adhesion, spreading, and proliferation behaviors, which suggests that honeycomb‐like porous TiO2 films are an attractive biomaterial for surface modification of titanium and its alloys implants in tissue engineering to enhance their biocompatibility and bioactivity. A honey of an idea: Honeycomb‐like porous TiO2 films have been fabricated with an organometallic small‐molecule precursor by using the breath‐figure method (see figure; TBT=titanium n‐butoxide). The pore size of the TiO2 films could be modulated by varying the experimental parameters. The in vitro cell‐culture experiments indicate that porous TiO2 films are an attractive biomaterial for surface modification of titanium implants in tissue engineering.