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Volume 16
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10.3390/app16020766
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Article

Enhancement of Antibacterial and Cytocompatibility Characteristics of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Titanium Surfaces Fabricated by Femtosecond Laser Processing

by
Hun-Kook Choi
1,
Young-Jun Jung
1,
Ik-Bu Sohn
1,*,
Harim Song
2,3,
Hyeongdo Jeong
2,
Seungpyo Kim
2,4,
Daeseon Moon
2 and
Md. Shamim Ahsan
5,*
1
Advanced Photonics Research Institute (APRI), Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), 123 Cheomdan-gwagiro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea
2
KJmeditech Co., Ltd., Gwangju 61009, Republic of Korea
3
Department of Prosthodontics, School of Dentistry, Chonnam National University, 77 Yongbong-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 61186, Republic of Korea
4
Advanced Functional Surface and Biomaterials Research Lab, College of Dentistry, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea
5
Electronics and Communication Engineering Discipline, Science Engineering and Technology School, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(2), 766; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16020766
Submission received: 7 December 2025 / Revised: 3 January 2026 / Accepted: 6 January 2026 / Published: 12 January 2026
(This article belongs to the Section Optics and Lasers)
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Featured Application

The primary objective of this research work is the micro-structuring of titanium surfaces by means of femtosecond laser processing to form hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces for improving the antibacterial and cytocompatibility properties, where the potential application area is focused on orthopedic implants.

Abstract

We demonstrate the enhancement of antibacterial and cytocompatibility characteristics of femtosecond laser-treated pure titanium and Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy samples suitable for orthopedic implant applications. We controlled the wettability of the titanium samples by tailoring the surface geometry using a femtosecond laser. To increase the hydrophobicity, laser-assisted micro-grids patterning was performed on the titanium samples, where we achieved a highest contact angle of 144.6° for a 1 µL de-ionized water droplet. In contrast, the hydrophobic Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy surfaces were converted to hydrophilic surfaces by fabricating periodic micro-gratings on the samples’ surface, where a lowest contact angle of 19.84° was achieved. Furthermore, we assessed the biocompatibility of the micro-patterned titanium samples by investigating the antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus Aureus bacteria. Moreover, the cytocompatibility of the micro-patterned titanium samples was examined using NCTC Clone 929 (L-929) mouse fibroblasts. The laser-treated titanium samples exhibited enhanced antibacterial performance while maintaining excellent cell compatibility. The experimental results confirmed excellent correlation with the wettability of the laser-patterned samples and their antibacterial characteristics and cytocompatibility. Overall, the findings highlight femtosecond laser surface structuring as a highly effective strategy to simultaneously improve antibacterial behavior and the biocompatibility of implant materials, offering a promising way for the advanced functionalization of orthopedic implants.
Keywords: femtosecond laser processing; hydrophilic and hydrophobic titanium surface; orthopedic implants; antibacterial and cytocompatibility analysis femtosecond laser processing; hydrophilic and hydrophobic titanium surface; orthopedic implants; antibacterial and cytocompatibility analysis

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Choi, H.-K.; Jung, Y.-J.; Sohn, I.-B.; Song, H.; Jeong, H.; Kim, S.; Moon, D.; Ahsan, M.S. Enhancement of Antibacterial and Cytocompatibility Characteristics of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Titanium Surfaces Fabricated by Femtosecond Laser Processing. Appl. Sci. 2026, 16, 766. https://doi.org/10.3390/app16020766

AMA Style

Choi H-K, Jung Y-J, Sohn I-B, Song H, Jeong H, Kim S, Moon D, Ahsan MS. Enhancement of Antibacterial and Cytocompatibility Characteristics of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Titanium Surfaces Fabricated by Femtosecond Laser Processing. Applied Sciences. 2026; 16(2):766. https://doi.org/10.3390/app16020766

Chicago/Turabian Style

Choi, Hun-Kook, Young-Jun Jung, Ik-Bu Sohn, Harim Song, Hyeongdo Jeong, Seungpyo Kim, Daeseon Moon, and Md. Shamim Ahsan. 2026. "Enhancement of Antibacterial and Cytocompatibility Characteristics of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Titanium Surfaces Fabricated by Femtosecond Laser Processing" Applied Sciences 16, no. 2: 766. https://doi.org/10.3390/app16020766

APA Style

Choi, H.-K., Jung, Y.-J., Sohn, I.-B., Song, H., Jeong, H., Kim, S., Moon, D., & Ahsan, M. S. (2026). Enhancement of Antibacterial and Cytocompatibility Characteristics of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Titanium Surfaces Fabricated by Femtosecond Laser Processing. Applied Sciences, 16(2), 766. https://doi.org/10.3390/app16020766

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