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Original Article

Biomimetic microtextured surfaces to improve

tribological and antibacterial behaviors of 3Y-TZP
ceramics

Jinyang Xu a,*, Xiaoming Zhang a, Jingyu Dai a, Dedong Yu b, Min Ji c,

Ming Chen a
a
State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong
University, Shanghai 200240, PR China
b
The Second Dental Center, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, College of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
School of Medicine, Shanghai 201999, PR China
c
School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266400, PR China

article info abstract

Article history: Surface texturing has been a powerful means to improve the service performance of
Received 25 November 2022 various engineering materials. The 3 mol% yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal
Accepted 6 January 2023 (3Y-TZP) represents the most-used ceramic oxide in restorative dentistry due to its
Available online 17 January 2023 excellent esthetic effects, good chemical stability and superior biocompatibility. However,
such materials show the limited ability of tribological and antibacterial performance for
Keywords: dental applications. In the present work, a bio-inspired design of textured surfaces was
3Y-TZP ceramics conducted based on the microstructural analysis of butterfly wings, peacock tail feathers,
Biomimetic textures and dolphin skins to improve the service performances of 3Y-TZP ceramics for dental
Wettability behavior applications. Three types of microtextures, including micro-grids, micro-feathers, and
Tribological performance micro-grooves, were fabricated onto the 3Y-TZP ceramics using the laser ablation tech-
Antibacterial properties nique. The effects of different microtextures on the wettability, tribological and antibac-
terial behaviors of 3Y-TZP ceramics were studied. The results indicate that all the
biomimetic microtextures can effectively improve the service performance of 3Y-TZP.
Wettability acts as a decisive factor for the tribological and antibacterial performances of
textured ceramic surfaces. The bio-inspired microtextured surfaces all show hydrophobic
behavior, thus yielding an effective improvement of antibacterial properties for 3Y-TZP.
Moreover, the micro-grids inspired by the butterfly wings basically perform the best in
tribological and antibacterial tests compared with the other counterparts.
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC
BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: xujinyang@sjtu.edu.cn (J. Xu).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2023.01.039
2238-7854/© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 3 : 1 3 6 0 e1 3 7 4
1. Introduction
With the increased awareness of oral health, bioceramics
have emerged and gradually substituted conventional poly-
mers and metals in dentistry to improve clinical performances
[1]. Among bioceramic families, 3 mol% yttria-stabilized
tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (3Y-TZP) represents the most-
used ceramic oxides for fabricating dental prostheses due to
its excellent esthetic effects, desirable chemical stability, and
superior biocompatibility [2e9]. Additionally, since zirconia-
based ceramics are nearly inert biomaterials composed of
high-purity zirconia and possess the advantages of tooth-like
color, high corrosion resistance, and good biocompatibility,
they have become very popular in clinical dental prostho-
dontics to fabricate inlays, implant crowns, and fixed bridges
[10e12]. Despite their superior mechanical and physical
properties, 3Y-TZP ceramics show a very limited ability of
antibacterial and tribological performances for realistic dental
applications. This is attributed to the harsh service environ-
ment and tough interactions with human soft and hard tis-
sues in the oral cavity. Under the action of the masticatory
muscles, the ceramic dentures and periodontal tissue tend to
promote rhythmic movements, including cutting, horizontal
grinding, and smashing, which causes excessive wear on
tooth surfaces. Additionally, the oral cavity, serving as an
absolute bacterial environment, often provides suitable
reproduction conditions for the formation of plaques, which
in turn causes dental caries, gum atrophy, and various oral
inflammations [13,14]. The above evidence highlights the
importance of anti-wear and antibacterial abilities for ceramic
dentures.
To improve the service performances of target materials,
surface texturing has become a powerful means in surface
and interface engineering to create various nano/micro tex-
tures. The most important feature of a surface texture lies in
its functionality. With the help of interface and scale effects,
significant changes in optical, acoustic, thermal, electrical,
magnetic, mechanical, and biological properties of texture
surfaces can be realized. Previous studies have indicated that
surface texturing can alter surface characteristics, induce the
transition of wettability and promote tribological enhance-
ments [14e18]. Thus, desired functional surfaces can be
created by the modification of surface structures.
Regarding denture materials, wettability, wear resistance,
and antibacterial properties are crucial indicators for evalua-
tion. Surface texturing can alter the wetting properties of
zirconia surfaces. In general, hydrophilic surfaces are favor-
able for cell adsorption, while hydrophobic surfaces are un-
favorable. Traditional dentures consist of implants,
abutments, and restorations. The surface treatment of im-
plants should be aimed at enhancing the osseointegration
process, so a super-hydrophilic surface is required; for abut-
ments, the antibacterial properties need to be considered
since plaque attachment can cause diseases such as peri-
implantitis. Zirconia ceramics are featured by a high surface
free energy, and thus they exhibit a hydrophilic nature [19,20].
The experimental work done by Ji et al. [5] has proved that the
surface wettability can be changed or even reversed by
modifying the shape of the microtexture. Jing et al. [21]
1361
analyzed in principle that surface texturing by laser ablation
can reduce corrosion (such as C element content) and increase
surface hydrophobicity by changing the surface chemical
composition. In sum, wettability is firmly related to surface
morphology, surface free energy, and surface chemical
composition. Additionally, surface texturing shows benefits in
reducing friction and wear amount at the contact interfaces
[22e24]. The phenomena are attributed to the reduced contact
length and entrapment of wear debris for textured surfaces
during the sliding process, according to Wu et al. [25]. To date,
various textured surfaces have been applied to many engi-
neering fields with the aim of enhancing tribological behavior
or improving anti-wear ability. For instance, Ryk et al. [26]
reported a 30% friction reduction of reciprocating automotive
components by using textured surfaces. Wu et al. [27] ach-
ieved a remarkable reduction of cutting forces and friction
work when using textured cutting inserts for machining tita-
nium alloys. Xing et al. [28] confirmed the feasibility of func-
tional textures in reducing friction coefficient and wear rate
for Si3N4/TiC ceramic sliding against steel under dry friction.
Kümmel et al. [29] prepared different microtextures on un-
coated WC/Co cutting inserts and stated that introducing
desired textures could significantly inhibit the built-up edge
formation and decrease wear progression. Fang et al. [30]
highlighted the benefits of texturing dimple patterns on
tungsten carbide parts in enhancing anti-wear properties and
reducing friction. Concerning the dental applications, very
limited studies [5,18,31] are reported in the literature to apply
textured surfaces to improve the anti-wear performance of
zirconia ceramics.
Moreover, surface texturing has unique advantages in
enhancing antibacterial behavior for denture materials. Con-
ventional antibacterial methods such as brushing teeth are
difficult for ordinary people to achieve cleaning standards,
which are greatly affected by individuals’ living habits. Drug
sterilization will destroy the balance of oral flora and even
cause poisoning. Long-term use of drug sterilization will pro-
duce drug-resistant bacteria and cause a decline in the effect.
Differing from the above two methods, surface texturing in-
hibits plaques by reducing the attachment of bacteria, which
works from the first step when bacteria enter the human
mouth. To design effective microtextures, the bionic design
would be a feasible tool. After hundreds of millions of years of
evolution, the surfaces of biological skins have evolved into
anti-wear, antibacterial, and super-hydrophobic structures,
which have been widely used in engineering fields [21]. Some
natural surface topographies, such as insect wings, moth eyes,
and geckos skin, have been proved to be antibacterial. Chung
et al. [32] designed a surface microstructure based on the shark
skin to disrupt bacterial biofilm formation without the use of
fungicides, which achieved a 50e80% reduction in coloniza-
tion. The antibacterial behaviors of these biological surfaces
rely mainly on the effect of micro-nano structures on bacterial
adhesion rather than the chemical composition of the surface.
Besides, bacterial adhesion and inhibition are also influenced
by the wetting behavior of target surfaces [14,20,33]. The
adsorption capacities of hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces
for specific bacterial flora are quite different. The use of trapped
air layers on the hydrophobic surface can inhibit and prevent
the adhesion of certain bacteria.
1362 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 3 : 1 3 6 0 e1 3 7 4
Fig. 1 e The SEM images of microstructures of wing surfaces for (a) Stibochiona nicea (Gray) (1 mm) [35]; (b) Vanessa indica
Herbst (10 mm) [36]; (c) Pieris rapae (10 mm) [36].
To develop anti-wear and antibacterial surfaces for 3Y-TZP
ceramics, the bionic design method was adopted in the cur-
rent work. The paper attempts to prepare functional textures
using laser ablation method to enhance the service perfor-
mances of 3Y-TZP for dental use. The topographical features
of three microtextures, including micro-grids, micro-feathers,
and micro-grooves, were inspired by the microstructural
analysis of butterfly wings, peacock tail feathers, and dolphin
skins. Considering the high machining efficiency and
noncontact characteristics of the laser ablation method [34],
the picosecond laser processing system was used to prepare
the designed microtextures onto the 3Y-TZP samples. The
contact angle measurements and tribological tests were car-
ried out to compare the wettability and anti-wear behaviors of
laser-textured 3Y-TZP samples. Staphylococcus aureus was also
cultured on the nontextured and laser-textured samples to
evaluate the antibacterial properties of different micro-
textures. The paper clarifies the mechanisms of different
microtextures affecting the service performance of zirconia
ceramics for dental applications.
2. Experimental design, implementation and
measurement
2.1. Bionic design of microtextures
Butterfly wings have strong hydrophobicity and self-cleaning
properties. In the natural environment, where rain, dust,
Fig. 2 e The schematic diagram of the geometrical features of the designed micro-grid textures (Unit: mm).
and other pollutants are mixed, the surfaces of butterfly wings
can always keep clean and dry [20]. Previous studies have
found that the unique ultrastructure of the butterfly wing
scale surface is the key factor for its hydrophobic and self-
cleaning performance [21]. Fig. 1 shows the scanning elec-
tron microscope (SEM) images of microstructures of wing
surfaces for Stibochiona nicea (Gray) [35], Vanessa indica
Herbst [36] and Pieris rapae [36]. These butterfly scales have
grid-like micro-textures on the surface and are regularly ar-
ranged, with ridges and ribs parallel to each other distributed
between the scales. Inspired by the closely-arranged grid
structure on the surface of butterfly scales, the biomimetic
model of micro-grids was established. The bionic surface was
closely arranged with regular grid-like groove structures to
improve the hydrophobic performance. Additionally, previous
studies indicate that when the laser processing pitch
increased to 100 mm, the surface structure was gradually
revealed, and the grid structure was not yet apparent. When
the laser pitch was increased to 150 mm and 200 mm, the sur-
face structure could be fully revealed [23]. Based on the sur-
face structure of butterfly wings and the characteristics of
laser processing technology, the texture model was designed,
as shown in Fig. 2.
Peacock tail feathers are proved to possess exceptional
wetting properties. As depicted in Fig. 3(a) [37], the droplets
exist in an approximately spherical shape and can roll freely
at a certain inclination angle on the surface of the peacock
feather. This is due to the unique structure formed by the
growth and arrangement of the feathers. Fig. 3(b) is a peacock
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 3 : 1 3 6 0 e1 3 7 4 1363

Fig. 3 e The microstructure of the peacock feathers [37].

feather structure magnified 10 times under an optical micro-
scope. As shown in Fig. 3(c), when increasing the observation
magnification, the branches of peacock feathers are
composed of closely arranged scale-like structures, and there
are tiny gaps between each column of feathers. In contrast,
there is a larger gap between rachides. The width of each quill
is about 40 mm, and the width from the rachis to the edge of
the quill is about 300 mm [37]. Considering the characteristics
of laser ablation methods, the bionic model shown in Fig. 4
was established, in which the microstructure characteristics
of the peacock feathers were preserved, and some geometrical
parameters were adjusted appropriately.
The dolphin surface is very smooth, containing an average
roughness of only 5.3 mm. As can be seen from Fig. 5 (a), the
dolphin skin is not a perfectly smooth surface but has folds all
over the body [38]. These folds can be simplified as grooved
microtextures with equal spacing and depth. The shark sur-
face is made up of numerous overlapping scales called
“dermal denticles”. It can be seen from Fig. 5 (b) that these
protrusions are a segment of ridges along the shark's
advancing direction. They are oriented in the same direction
but not strictly along a straight line [39]. The groove-type
microtexture can be obtained by simplifying the protrusions
that are not along the same line as the protrusions are con-
nected in sequence. The approximate groove-type micro-
textures of dolphins and sharks are mainly used for drag
reduction. While for water striders that can stand and walk on
the water surface, their legs must have super-hydrophobic
structures to hinder water infiltration. It can be seen from
Fig. 5 (c) and (d) that their leg setae also have irregular groove-
like structures [40]. These grooves are not in the same direc-
tion but staggered from each other at an angle. Therefore, the
surfaces of the above three organisms all have or can be
simplified into parallel grooves, and a biomimetic model can
be derived as shown in Fig. 6. The grooves in the model are not
rectangular grooves but have evenly distributed arc-shaped
depressions with a radius of 300 mm, which is to simulate
the uneven state of the grooves on the biological surface. It is
speculated that this surface may be hydrophobic and friction-
reducing.
2.2. Fabrication of microtextures
The 3Y-TZP powders were purchased from a commercial
company to fabricate the zirconia workpiece samples. At the
initial stage, the powdery 3Y-TZP was firstly dry pressed with
a pressure of 90 MPa and then hot pressed at 300  C with a
pressure of 240 MPa to form the green-compact billets [41].
Then, the ceramic blocks were sintered inside a sintering
furnace at the sintering temperatures of 1500  C under the
atmospheric environment. The bulk density and Vickers
hardness of the fully-sintered 3Y-TZP samples are 6.04 g/cm3

Fig. 4 e The schematic diagram of the geometrical features of the designed micro-feather textures (Unit: mm).
1364 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 3 : 1 3 6 0 e1 3 7 4

Fig. 5 e The organisms with grooved microtextures: (a) dolphins and their folds across the skin surface [38]; (b) sharks and
their surface ridges [39]; (c) SEM image of water strider leg bristles [40]; (d) SEM image of grooves on the surface of water
strider leg bristles [40].

and 1295 HV, respectively [41]. The fully-sintered 3Y-TZP
sample is composed of 98.75% tetragonal phase and 1.25%
monoclinic phase, and its grain size is within 522.60 nm
through our previous XRD analysis [41,42]. Before the laser
treatment, all the ceramic samples were carefully polished to
have the identical size of 10 mm (length)  10 mm
(width)  5 mm (thickness). To create designed microtextures
onto the 3Y-TZP samples, the laser processing method was
adopted. It is a very promising and powerful manufacturing
method being extensively used in various engineering fields.
Its principle lies in projecting the laser beam onto the surface
of the material to obtain highly-localized energy to melt or
evaporate the solid material for chip separation. The method
is more flexible and can realize the mapping of 2D data to the
surface of the 3D model, generate 3D data, and realize the
marking of the physical surface. The laser processing tech-
nology can be seamlessly connected with the AutoCAD soft-
ware without complex conversion and has a powerful
secondary development interface, which is suitable for a
broad range of applications. In the present study, the ultra-
violet picosecond processing system was used for the surface
texturing operation. The relevant geometrical parameters of
the three types of microtextures are listed in Table 1, in which
the texture density signifies the ratio of the area cut by the

Fig. 6 e The schematic diagram of the geometrical features of the designed micro-groove textures (Unit: mm).
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 3 : 1 3 6 0 e1 3 7 4
Table 1 e The geometrical parameters for the designed
surface textures.
Texture Side length/ Interval Depth
type diameter (mm) (mm)
(mm)
Micro-grids 440/300 200 35
Micro- 420/100 138/130 35
feathers
Micro-grooves 300/80/600 170 35
laser to the nominal texturing area. Figs. 7 and 8 show the
photographs and SEM morphologies of the original and three
textured 3Y-TZP surfaces after laser processing, respectively.
It is noted that despite the existence of certain defects and
burrs along the edges of textured surfaces, the geometrical
boundaries and contours of the microtextures are very clear.
The SEM equipment used in this study is a JSM-7800F super-
resolution field microscope made by JEOL Ltd.
2.3. Surface performance testing
For wettability evaluation, the DSA 100 drop-shape analyzer
was used to measure the liquid contact angle of the three
biomimetic surfaces. The used liquid was deionized water,
and each drop was 5 mL. After the drop was stabilized on the
tested surface for 15s, the contact angle was photographed by
a CCD camera and then automatically calculated by the image
identification software.
To assess the tribological properties of textured zirconia
ceramics, the reciprocating frictional tests, as shown sche-
matically in Fig. 9, were conducted for the textured 3Y-TZP
surfaces. To meet the simulation conditions, the experiments
were carried out under the lubricated sliding condition using
distilled water as the medium, and the natural teeth shown in
Fig. 10 were selected as an antagonist body to perform 2000
cycles of friction with the 3Y-TZP samples to replicate the
mutual movement between the occlusal ceramic restorations.
A vertical load of 4 N was set to simulate the state of contact
between the natural teeth in the oral cavity and the surface of
the material, according to the literature survey [5,43]. The one-
way friction stroke of 3 mm and the reciprocating frequency of
2 Hz were adopted to model the chewing process of the clin-
ical conditions. Note that the sliding direction was set parallel
to the microtexture direction, as shown in Fig. 11. The varia-
tion of frictional forces during the sliding process was recor-
ded in-situ by the high-precision force sensor, and the change
Fig. 7 e The photographs of the original surface and the three kinds of the microtextured surfaces.
1365
of the friction coefficients with the number of cycles was
analyzed. Finally, the wear morphologies of each textured 3Y-
TZP surface were examined by the JSM-7800F SEM.
Texture
To evaluate the antibacterial properties of textured 3Y-TZP
density
samples, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, ATCC 25923) was
(%)
selected as the test strain. The strains were provided by the
76.69
China General Microbiological Culture Collection Center
69.45
(CGMCC). After activating and cultivating the strains pre-
53.29 served on the slant, the bacterial liquid of P2 generation in the
growth logarithmic phase was obtained. The 60 mL of Staphy-
lococcus aureus suspension (107 CFU/mL) was inoculated on the
surface of each sample. It was diluted 10, 100, and 1000 times
with normal saline. Afterward, 100 mL of the diluted bacterial
solution was taken to inoculate in a nutrient agar petri dish
and placed in a constant temperature incubator at 37 C for
24 h. Then, photographs were taken by a gel imaging system,
and the number of colonies in each petri dish and the anti-
bacterial rate of each group of samples were calculated. Note
that the antibacterial rate is defined as (A-B)/A  100%, where
A signifies the average bacterial colony number of the non-
textured ceramic surface, and B denotes the average bacterial
colony number of the textured ceramics. Finally, bacterial
adhesion was examined by the fluorescence microscope
(OLYMPUS GX71, Japan).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Wettability assessment
Wettability is an important property to characterize the
interaction between a solid surface and a liquid, closely
related to phenomena such as capillary action. A direct mea-
surement of surface wettability is the contact angle formed by
the liquid on the surface. The larger the contact angle, the
more hydrophobic the surface becomes. The hydrophobic
surfaces can inhibit the adhesion of bacteria and reduce the
infiltration of lubricating liquid in wet friction so that the
lubricating liquid can fully function and reduce the friction
coefficient. According to the calculation of the Young's equa-
tion, the intrinsic contact angle of zirconia ceramic is about
75 , which belongs to a hydrophilic material, so it is necessary
to introduce microtexture to change its wettability. In this
test, the static contact angle test was used to identify the
change in surface wettability of textured zirconia ceramics.
Fig. 12 shows the contact angle measurements of original and
textured 3Y-TZP surfaces with deionized water. It is clear that
the introduction of the three microtextures has changed the
1366 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 3 : 1 3 6 0 e1 3 7 4

Fig. 8 e The SEM morphologies of the original surface and microtextured surfaces.

original hydrophilic zirconia surface into a hydrophobic sur- remains on the surface, and the grooves are completely filled
face, in which the micro-grid texture changes the most, and with air, as illustrated in the Cassie model of Fig. 13.
the contact angle reaches over 150 . According to the formula of the Wenzel model, the theo-
On an ideal smooth and flat surface, the intrinsic contact retical contact angle of the microtextures can be calculated, as
angle of the zirconia ceramic surface can be obtained ac- listed in Table 2. By comparing the test values, it is found that
cording to the Young's equation, which is about 75 . However, the contact angle error of the micro-groove texture is very
the zirconia ceramic samples used in the experiments cannot small, while the micro-grid and micro-feather textures have
reach the ideal state, and the surface has a certain roughness.
Therefore, from the test results in Table 2, it can be seen that
there is a specific error between the surface contact angle and
the theoretical intrinsic contact angle for the textured 3Y-TZP
samples.
When analyzing the wettability of a workpiece sample,
surface roughness needs to be considered. For non-ideal sur-
faces, the contact angle of the material surface can be cor-
rected according to the Wenzel and Cassie models shown in
Fig. 13. The Cassie model assumes that the liquid fills all the
groove structures on the solid surface, and in this case, the
surface roughness amplifies the wetting behavior of the ma-
terial itself. When the roughness is large, the air will form an
air cushion in the groove and cause the failure of the Wenzel
model. In this case, it will create a situation where the liquid
Fig. 9 e The schematic diagram of the frictional tests.
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 3 : 1 3 6 0 e1 3 7 4
Fig. 10 e The natural teeth used in the frictional tests.
large contact angle errors. The possible reason may be due to
the fact that the actual contact angles for the micro-grid and
micro-feather surfaces are in an intermediate state between
the Wenzel and Cassie models, as shown in Fig. 14, where the
Wenzel model is not fully applicable at this time. On the other
hand, the formula of the Wenzel model results from experi-
ence and modeling, and the different topographic parameters
of the actual texture surface will have complex effects on its
contact angle.
Through the above analysis, it can be concluded that the
surface microtexture can change the wettability of 3Y-TZP
ceramics. By adjusting the microtexture parameters, the
wetting effects of textured 3Y-TZP surfaces can be enhanced.
The micro-grid structure has the largest contact angle and,
thus, the best hydrophobicity, while the micro-feather texture
is affected by factors such as surface roughness. Its actual
contact angle is smaller than that of the micro-groove texture,
and its hydrophobicity is relatively the lowest.
3.2. Friction and wear performances
The reciprocating frictional experiments were conducted on
the original ceramic surface and micro-textured surfaces
against the natural teeth under wetting conditions. Fig. 15
shows the variation curves of the friction coefficients of
different surfaces within the 2000 cycles of reciprocating
sliding, and Table 3 lists the comparison of the average friction
coefficients between different 3Y-TZP surfaces. Results indi-
cate that under the lubricated frictional conditions, all the
designed biomimetic microtextures show the ability to reduce
friction coefficient compared with the original surface, which
indicates the beneficial effect of the surface texturing on
improving the friction behavior of 3Y-TZP ceramics during
rubbing against the natural teeth under the similar clinical
Fig. 11 e The schematic diagram showing the friction direction during the tribological tests.
1367
conditions. In contrast, the original reference surface yields a
much higher average friction coefficient of 0.342, which is
approximately 1.91 times that of the micro-gird surface. The
phenomenon suggests that using the original 3Y-TZP for the
fabrication of dentures cannot yield a very reasonable anti-
friction behavior, and there is still a lot of room for improve-
ment via the introduction of microtextures. Additionally, the
frictional curve of the original surface tends to rise up within
250 cycles relative to the other three textured surfaces, which
denotes a running-in stage, as shown in Fig. 15. The phe-
nomenon may be due to the fact that the original surface has a
smaller contact area with the natural teeth and possesses
larger frictional stress than the textured surfaces. Conse-
quently, the friction coefficient increases faster. When the
sliding process becomes stable, the friction coefficient still
fluctuates greatly due to the fact that the natural tooth surface
is uneven, and the friction coefficient changes significantly
during the reciprocating sliding contacts. In addition, the
micro-grid yields the lowest value of friction coefficient, fol-
lowed by the micro-feather and micro-groove, the order of
which is roughly opposite to that of the texture density, as
depicted in Table 3. This is because the higher the density of
the surface texture, the smaller the contact area with the
friction member during the reciprocating sliding cycle. This
means that the actual distance reduction of sliding friction in
each cycle leads to a decrease in friction. Therefore, a smaller
friction coefficient is produced when the sliding contacts
enter a steady state [31].
Additionally, the wear morphologies of different textured
3Y-TZP samples after the frictional tests were also charac-
terized by the SEM. The obtained results are shown in Fig. 16.
It is noted that all the textured surfaces have experienced a
certain degree of wear under the action of reciprocating fric-
tion. The micro-feather basically undergoes the largest level of
wear during the sliding contacts under the similar clinical
conditions. It is seen that most of the micro-feature bound-
aries have been severely damaged, and fragments and broken
bars become very prevalent after the wear tests, which makes
the microtexture lose the proper functionality. Additionally,
the micro-groove undergoes a relatively lower extent of wear
damage, where the main damage types are cracks initiated at
the corner of the microtextures. In contrast, the micro-grid
exhibits the lowest amount of wear, where only very few
broken bars are identified on the worn surface. The results
suggest that the micro-grid has more advantages in resisting
wear, maintaining its own shape accuracy, and is more able to
serve in the chewing environment of the oral cavity.
1368 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 3 : 1 3 6 0 e1 3 7 4

Fig. 12 e Results of the contact angle measurements of 3Y-TZP samples.

Table 2 e Comparison of the theoretical and test values of

surface contact angle.
Texture pattern Original Micro- Micro- Micro-
surface grids feathers grooves
Contact Theoretical value 75.0 135.0 128.0 114.3
angle Test value 33.1 151.2 103.2 114.1
(o)

Through the comparison of the friction coefficient, it can

be found that different surface microtextures exhibit dispa-
rate wear resistance, and the results are firmly related to the
texture density and structural strength. The structural
strength determines the fracture resistance of the textured
surfaces and provides the corresponding mechanical strength
to withstand the external force caused by the chewing
movement of the oral cavity. The greater the structural
strength, the slight the damage, and the anti-friction effect is
enhanced to a certain extent. The micro-feather texture un-
dergoes noticeable wear due to its edge structural strength. In
Fig. 14 e The intermediate state between the Wenzel and
Cassie models.
addition, as shown in the contact model of Fig. 17, the distilled
water continuously moves through the surface of the sample,
which brings out the wear debris stored inside the texture and
enters the friction surface during the subsequent friction
process, forming a cycle to increase the wear extent. More-
over, due to the influence of structural strength and wear

Fig. 13 e The schematic diagram of the Wenzel and Cassie models.

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Table 3 e Comparison of the friction coefficients of

different surfaces.
Original Micro- Micro- Micro-
surface grids feathers grooves
Average friction 0.342 0.179 0.210 0.239
coefficient
Decrease ratio 0 0.477 0.386 0.301
Texture density / 76.693 69.450 53.292
(%)

debris, the friction and wear severity of micro-feather textures

Fig. 15 e The variation curves of the friction coefficient of
original and textured 3Y-TZP surfaces.
tend to get intensified.
Based on the above analysis, it can be concluded that the
surface texture can reduce friction and wear to a certain
extent under the influence of wettability changes by control-
ling the degree of surface porosity and structural strength. The
three textures designed in the work have yielded obvious anti-
friction effects. Among them, the micro-grid texture shows

Fig. 16 e The wear morphologies of the microtextured 3Y-TZP ceramic surfaces.

1370 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 3 : 1 3 6 0 e1 3 7 4
Fig. 17 e A schematic diagram of the contact between the
textured 3Y-TZP ceramics and the natural tooth.
the most significant impact on reducing friction and wear,
being the preferred choice for clinical applications followed by
the micro-feather and micro-groove textures.
3.3. Antibacterial properties
The culture dishes of Staphylococcus aureus were placed in a
constant temperature incubator at 37  C for 24 h. After the
cultivation, the bacteria inoculated on the surface of each
sample were diluted and transferred to an agar petri dish for
cultivation, and the distribution of bacterial colonies in the
petri dish is shown in Fig. 18. The number of colonies on the
surface of each sample was counted using the plate counting
method, and then the antibacterial rate of each sample was
calculated, as shown in Fig. 19. The results indicate that all the
designed microtextures show noticeable antibacterial effects
compared with the original reference surface. Among them,
the micro-grid texture exhibits the best antibacterial proper-
ties, followed by the micro-feather and micro-groove, and its
antibacterial rate reaches about 65.14%. This suggests that the
micro-grid would be the preferred texture type for clinical
applications to achieve the best antibacterial behavior of
dentures.
Regarding the mechanisms of bacterial adhesion, the ulti-
mate form of bacteria on teeth is the formation of biofilm. The
bacteria have to experience several periods, including initial
reversible adhesion, irreversible adhesion, as well as biofilm
growth, maturation, and dissemination [30]. For the initial
reversible adhesion, the wettability of textured surfaces usu-
ally poses a significant influence. As shown in Fig. 20(a), for the
Fig. 18 e The photographs showing the bacterial colony distribution in the petri dish.
Fig. 19 e The bacterial colonies number and antibacterial
rate in terms of different samples.
hydrophilic surface, bacteria are more likely to adhere to the
bottom edge of the texture for the maximum contact area,
while for the hydrophobic surface (Fig. 20(b)), it is difficult for
the liquid to contact the bottom end of the textured gap due to
the existence of a large amount of air in the textured gap, thus
reducing the bacterial adhesion. Moreover, a capillary pres-
sure difference could exist between medium in the texture
groove and the surrounding that helps to prevent the adher-
ence of the bacteria on the sample surface. This also explains
why the micro-grid texture shows the highest hydrophobicity
and yields the best antibacterial properties.
Using the fluorescent staining properties of DAPI, the
bacterial adhesion on the textured surfaces was examined by
a fluorescence microscope (Ref. Fig. 21). It is found that the
texture shape could be vaguely seen through the fluorescent
spots on the textured surface, and the clarity reflects the
number of colonies. The bacterial distribution on the original
surface is uniform and dense, and there are certain accumu-
lation and overlapping phenomena. But there are few and no
obvious regularity in the distribution position. Compared with
the original surface, the bacteria distribution on the three
textured surfaces is less, but all have aggregation phenomena
to a certain extent, mainly concentrated at the top edge of the
textured surface. Among them, the bacterial aggregation be-
comes more pronounced on the micro-groove surface. The
density is high, and there is an obvious overlapping phe-
nomenon. This indicates the existence of a certain tropism for
bacterial growth. The phenomena are related to the bacteria
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 3 : 1 3 6 0 e1 3 7 4 1371

Fig. 20 e The schematic diagram of bacterial adhesion for (a) the hydrophilic surface and (b) the hydrophobic surface.

Fig. 21 e The fluorescence staining characteristics of bacterial adhesion for different 3Y-TZP surfaces.

Fig. 22 e The schematic diagram of bacterial rupture on a microtextured surface.

1372 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 3 : 1 3 6 0 e1 3 7 4
adsorption on the textured surfaces with different wettability,
where hydrophobic surfaces cause bacteria to concentrate on
the top edge of the textures. As seen in Fig. 22, when bacteria
tend to adhere onto the textured surface, the suspended part
will rupture and eventually collapse due to the effects of
multi-level textured structures [44]. The bacterial cell wall
attaching to the surface often undergoes a large stretch and
deformation, resulting in an instant extreme increase in the
surface area. Then the irreversible mechanical rupture of cell
walls occurs, leading to the decline of the bacterial population
[45]. The phenomena make the bacteria more directional in
distribution to ensure their survival.
In sum, the designed biomimetic microtextures can
change the wettability of zirconia ceramics and consequently
affect bacterial adhesion. The Staphylococcus aureus in the
experiment prefers to adhere to the hydrophilic surface, so
the use of the air film generated by the super-hydrophobic
surface can inhibit and reduce the bacterial adhesion [46].
Meanwhile, the existence of surface texture also influences
the adhesion, extension, and reproduction of bacteria and
thus exerts an antibacterial effect. This implies that the use of
hydrophobic microtextures can possess the advantage of
improving the antibacterial behaviors of dentures for the
clinical applications. Finally, due to the super-hydrophobic
properties, the micro-grids yield the most outstanding anti-
bacterial ability, followed by the micro-feathers and micro-
grooves.
4. Conclusions
The present work proposes the bio-inspired design of textured
surfaces based on the microstructural analysis of butterfly
wings, peacock tail feathers, and dolphin skins to improve the
service performances of 3Y-TZP ceramics for dental applica-
tions. Three types of biomimetic microtextures, involving
micro-grids, micro-feathers, and micro-grooves, were pre-
pared onto the 3Y-TZP ceramics to improve their service
performances. The paper addresses the impacts of different
microtextures on the wettability, tribological and antibacterial
behaviors of textured 3Y-TZP ceramics. Based on the results
acquired, some key conclusions can be drawn.
 The original reference surface basically yields a 33.1
contact angle, which suggests the intrinsic hydrophilic
behavior of the nontextured 3Y-TZP ceramics. The intro-
duction of biomimetic microtextures has been confirmed
to have different degrees of influence on the wettability of
the 3Y-TZP surface. The micro-grid structure yields the
largest contact angle of 151.2 and, thus, the best hydro-
phobicity. While the micro-feather is affected by factors
such as surface roughness, and its actual contact angle is
103.2 , being smaller than that of the micro-groove
texture. Therefore, its hydrophobicity is relatively the
lowest.
 The original reference surface achieves the highest average
friction coefficient of 0.342, indicating a very poor anti-
friction behavior of the nontextured 3Y-TZP ceramics.
Additionally, the micro-grid texture yields the best anti-
friction and anti-wear performances. The micro-feather
shows a better effect on reducing friction than the
groove-like texture, but due to the influence of structural
strength and debris, its wear is more severe than that of the
micro-groove texture.
 The adhesion and reproduction of bacteria are disturbed
due to the changes in surface wettability and the presence
of roughness. All the biomimetic surfaces designed in the
study have an obvious inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus
aureus compared with the original reference surface.
Among them, the micro-grid texture exhibits the best
antibacterial properties, followed by the micro-feathers
and micro-grooves, and its antibacterial rate reaches
about 65.14%. It is confirmed to be the most preferred
texture type amongst the examined textures for clinical
applications to achieve the best antibacterial behavior of
dentures.
 The hydrophobic surfaces designed in this work all
exhibit excellent wear resistance and antibacterial prop-
erties due to their influence on friction debris movement
and bacterial adhesion. The micro-grid performs better
than the other two microtextures in terms of hydropho-
bicity, friction and wear properties, and antibacterial
behaviors.
 Finally, the current research work is limited to the perfor-
mance evaluation of microtextures prepared on planar
surfaces of fully-sintered 3Y-TZP ceramics, not the actual
denture surfaces. To better approach realistic clinical ap-
plications, more endeavors should focus on preparing
biomimetic microtextures on realistic curved tooth sur-
faces. Additionally, future research on optimizing the
texture topographies should be carried out through inter-
disciplinary research. Finally, more clinical trials are
required to comprehensively evaluate the service perfor-
mance of textured 3Y-TZP denture surfaces.
Author statement
Jinyang Xu: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation,
Funding Acquisition, Writing - Original Draft; Xiaoming
Zhang: Investigation, Data Curation, Formal analysis; Jingyu
Dai: Investigation, Data Curation, Formal analysis; Dedong
Yu: Writing - Review & Editing; Min Ji: Writing - Review &
Editing; Ming Chen: Writing - Review & Editing.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
The work was supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52175422 and 52175425).
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