Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
The adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and fibrinogen proteins dissolved on Phosphate buffer solution onto Ta, Nb and Ti oxide thin films was studied. The metal oxide thin films were deposited by magnetron sputtering on Si(100) wafers and characterized by contact angle measurements and profilometry. Spectroscopic ellipsometry was employed to characterize the kinetics of the protein adsorption process in-situ at the solid-liquid interface and the optical properties of the adsorbed protein layer formed after 45 minutes of immersion of the thin film in the protein solution. Infrared spectroscopy was used to study the proteins within the adsorbed layer. A trend indicating that the surface mass density of the adsorbed protein layer increases as the Rt (peak-to-valley height) surface roughness parameter increases was observed for fibrinogen and BSA. An increment in the surface mass density of the adsorbed protein layer was also observed onto surfaces with higher polar components of the surface energy. BSA and fibrinogen seemed to more readily adsorbed onto tantalum oxide than onto titanium oxide.