Titanium Dioxide Coatings Used in Medical Device Industry

In the last post we talked about titaniumdioxide paint is self-cleaning and it can be used for outdoor furniture to prevent the insult of bacteria and mold. Today we are going to discover another feature of titanium dioxide coatings.

Medical device industry is a special industry that has a very strict limit on the materials. There are a wide range of properties that must be carefully evaluated, such as corrosion, bio-compatibility, and strength-to-weight ratio. These particular requirements make titanium dioxide the perfect material to be used in medical device industry due to its resistance to corrosion, strong chemical properties and sufficient bio-compatibility.

To be more specific to the applications of titanium dioxide in the medical device industry, one of the advantages is that titanium dioxide can stimulate the speed of bone cell growth. Scientists discovered that bone cells can grow almost 80 percent faster putting on a surface made of titanium dioxide fibers, which is incredibly small (thousands of times smaller than a human hair).

The scientists create a particular mix of materials and gases by putting a smooth titanium dioxide surface into a furnace and cause tiny filaments of titanium dioxide to sprout from the surface. As a result, a coating of aluminum oxide around them is generated.

They do some further tests to see how well the bone cancer cells would grow using this nanowire surface compared to a smooth titanium dioxide surface. The tests show that the nanowire surface was host to about half more cells per centimeter than other surface. It means that titanium dioxide nanowires are highly effective in the experimental situation and in the future they may be able to have a big impact on the medical industry. They are very easy to produce and we can look forward to more progress in this area in the near future.

Why is titanium dioxide so successful? It is not only used in medical device industry, but also in sunscreens, paints, plastics, paper and many other chemical products. A titanium dioxide added coating changes the way a surface reacts with its environment, making it much easier to self-clean and disinfect.

Titanium dioxide is a unique material that offers high bio-compatibility and strong chemical properties. It will absolutely continue to be developed with new applications in the medical industry in the future.