Innovative zirconia surface activation via grit-blasting and post-discharge plasma pretreatment for covalent grafting of organosilanes

Abstract

Zirconia is a material of choice due to its superior mechanical properties, high biocompatibility, and excellent chemical stability. The development of durable and effective surface pretreatments for zirconia is essential for expanding its applications in biomedical and dental fields, as well as in areas such as supported catalysis and filter membranes. In this study, we introduce an innovative surface modification technique to improve grafting efficiency on zirconia substrates. This method involves a two-step process: an initial tribochemical pretreatment with glass beads, followed by exposure to an argon-dioxygen post-discharge. Comprehensive characterization of the treated zirconia surfaces was performed using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and colorimetric assays. The results indicated that the grafting ratio achieved with this technique is comparable to the most effective methods reported in the literature while micro-cracking and surface phase transition of zirconia typically induced by grit-blasting with commercial particles is limited. These findings suggest that this novel surface modification technique has significant potential for enhancing the durability of grafting on zirconia-based materials.