Rationally designed ultra-short pulsed laser patterning of zirconia-based ceramics tailored for the bone-implant interface

Highlights: • Laser ablation of hard-to-machine ceramic materials enables defined patterning. • Alumina-toughened zirconia and tetragonal zirconia polycrystal is investigated. • Bio-inspired hierarchical surfaces are generated altering the bio-response. • A transition from a hydrophilic to -phobic wetting state is revealed. • XPS depth profiling and Raman mapping proves the ceramics integrity. Ceramic composite materials are increasingly used in dental restoration procedures, but current ceramic surface designs do not yet achieve the osseointegration potential of state-of-the-art titanium implants. Rapid bone tissue integration of an implant is greatly dependent on its surface characteristics, but the material properties of ceramic composite materials interfere with classical surface modification techniques. Here, ultra-short pulsed laser machining, which offers a defined energy input mitigating a heat-affected zone, is explored for surface modification of ceramic composites. Inspired by surface textures of clinically relevant titanium implants, dual roughness surfaces are laser patterned. Raman mapping reveals a negligible effect of ultra-short pulsed laser ablation on material properties, but a laser-induced change in the wetting state is revealed by static contact angle measurements. Laser patterning of surfaces also influences blood coagulation, but not the attachment and spreading of osteoblastic cells. The presented laser machining approach thus allows the introduction of a rational surface design on ceramic composites, holding great promise for the manufacturing of ceramic implants.