Fig. 1.

Surface characterization of the different titanium substrates, before and after hydrothermal etching. A) Hip implant showing localization of the substrates of interest. B) Representative SEM images (stage tilted at 45°). C) XPS elemental composition obtained from survey spectra (n = 3, mean ± SD). D) Water contact angle analysis (n = 3, mean ± SD). E-G) Representative GAXRD depth profiles of CTL versus HTE for E) titanium alloy, F) commercially pure titanium, and G) plasma sprayed titanium. “A” and “R” in the zoomed-in section indicating anatase and rutile peaks respectively. Multiple t tests comparing HTE-Ti vs unmodified substrates (∗p < 0.05; ∗∗p < 0.001; ∗∗∗p < 0.001 and ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001).