Surface functionalization of titanium metal is very attractive for bio- and environmental applications. This is because titanium metal is very stable and has a good biocompatibility. In this case, surface roughness and crystalline structure are important factors for obtaining effective characteristics. Titanium metal is usually covered with a surface passive film of thermodynamically stable rutile-TiO2 that grows as the heat treatment temperature in air increases. On the other hand, to obtain an anatase-TiO2 surface layer on titanium metal, we must employ specific treatments such as our previous method, which uses a silica-coexisting heat-treatment process. In this paper, the relationship between the fine structure formed on the titanium metal and the surface hydrophilic property was clarified, and the potential for the bio-application was discussed. The formed anatase-TiO2 coexisting with silica exhibited improved biocompatibility with good apatite formation.
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