Abstract
Carbon foams are suitable for scaffolds used in tissue engineering that have a porosity ratio of more than 90% with a three-dimensional honeycomb structure. Titanium films were deposited isotropically using an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) sputtering system on 5 mm-thick carbon foams. SEM observation and electron probe microanalysis revealed that all the surfaces of the carbon foam in the center of the specimens were coated with an approximately 5 μm-thick titanium film, indicating that the ECR sputtering method enables titanium coating into both the surrounding and deep regions of carbon foams. The flexural strength and elastic modulus of the coated specimens increased by approximately 1.5 and 2.5 times, respectively, than those of the uncoated specimens. Cell culture tests with mouse fibroblasts (L-929) and rat bone marrow osteoblast-like cells demonstrated the presence of cells not only on the surface but also inside the foam. No toxic effect on both cells on the titanium-coated carbon foams was apparent. A small amount of extracellular matrices appeared on the foam struts, but those matrices did not grow enough to occupy the spaces between them. These results indicate that carbon foams coated with titanium are useful for skeletons used for tissue engineering.
