Surface properties of silver doped titanium oxide films

Silver doped titanium oxide coatings for biomedical application were prepar ed by ion beam assisted deposition in an oxygen atmosphere. X-Ray photoelec tron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to examine the chemical states and composi tion. Critical surface tension, dispersive and polar components of the surf ace energy were investigated by contact angle analysis. The influence of ex perimental conditions on the chemical states, composition and surface energ y were investigated. The chemical state of silver was not affected by the p rocess parameters and silver existed always in metallic state. XPS analysis confirmed the presence of TiO, Ti2O3 and TiO2, and the concentrations of t he different oxidation states were influenced by the deposition rate of Ti and Ag. The oxygen flow rate had only a minor influence. On the other hand, dispersive and polar components of the surface energy were significantly a ffected by the oxygen atmosphere. The results also showed that samples with a higher concentration of silver exhibited a somewhat larger critical surf ace tension. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.