Real time assessment of surface interactions with a titanium passivation layer by surface plasmon resonance

Due to the high corrosion resistance and strength to density ratio titanium is widely used in industry, and also in a gamut of medical applications. Here we report for the first time on our development of a titanium passivation layer sensor that makes use of surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The deposited titanium metal layer on the sensor was passivated in air, similarly to titanium medical devices. Our “Ti-SPR sensor” enables analysis of biomolecule interactions with the passivated surface of titanium in real time. As a proof of concept, corrosion of a titanium passivation layer exposed to acid was monitored in real time. The Ti-SPR sensor can also accurately measure the time-dependence of protein adsorption onto the titanium passivation layer at sub-nanogram per square millimeter accuracy. Besides such SPR analyses, SPR imaging (SPRI) enables real time assessment of chemical surface processes that occur simultaneously at “multiple independent spots” on the Ti-SPR sensor, such as acid corrosion or adhesion of cells. Our Ti-SPR sensor will therefore be very useful to study titanium corrosion phenomena and biomolecular titanium–surface interactions with application in a broad range of industrial and biomedical fields.