Comparative study of protein adsorption on different bio-surfaces for osteointegration

Understanding protein adsorption is of great interest in the development and engineering of novel medical devices, due to proteins effect in mediating cell-implant interactions. This work aims to investigate the adsorption of bovine serum albumin on different types of bio-surfaces intended for osteointegration. Furthermore, to develop a set of characterization techniques that can be applied on a wide variety of different materials. In particular, four different treatments on Ti or Ti6Al4 alloy and an Ag-doped bioactive glass were chosen, along with polystyrene. The surface properties of the substrates prior and after BSA adsorption were investigated through common techniques (FESEM, EDS, XPS and BCA) combined with less conventional ones (surface zeta potential, KPFM and spectroscopic techniques, SERS and ATR-FTIR). The results provide insight on the effects of the different surface compositions, functional groups and topography on the adsorption of albumin. Total amount and conformation of the adsorbed protein are both investigated.