Commercial pure titanium (cpTi) sheets were subjected to various chemical treatments to study the role of surface chemistry, morphology etc., on improving the bioactivity, the ability to form hydroxyapatite (HA) coating in simulated body fluid (SBF). Both the treated and untreated samples were characterized before and after immersing in SBF by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy techniques. The combination of acid plus alkali treatment seems to nucleate more and dense HA compared to other treatments. The HA nucleates initially along the grain boundaries and then homogenously with immersion time. The overall effect of grain boundary and roughness leading to the formation of higher amount of sodium titanate gel has been proposed for the bioactivity enhancement of cpTi by the proposed surface treatment. © Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs (India), 20090103-33.