Preparation and Characterization of Nanofiber Coatings on Bone Implants for Localized Antimicrobial Activity Based on Sustained Ion Release and Shape-Preserving Design

• Published in: Materials Vol. 17; no. 11; p. 2584
• Main Authors: Cao, Yubao, Wang, Hong, Cao, Shuyun, Liu, Zaihao, Zhang, Yanni
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 28.05.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Acoustics; antibacterial activity; Antibacterial agents; Bacteria; bond strengths; Bonding strength; Bones; Coatings; Contact angle; Copper; Cu-doped SNW; Etching; Gram-negative bacteria; Gram-positive bacteria; Hydrothermal treatment; Ion exchange; Morphology; Nanowires; Physiological effects; Product introduction; Reagents; Scanning electron microscopy; shape-preserving; Sodium; Sodium titanate; Solution strengthening; Structural stability; sustained ion release; Synergistic effect; Titanium; Transplants & implants; China; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; antibacterial activity; shape-preserving; sustained ion release; bond strengths; Cu-doped SNW
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma17112584

Titanium (Ti), as a hard tissue implant, is facing a big challenge for rapid and stable osseointegration owing to its intrinsic bio-inertness. Meanwile, surface-related infection is also a serious threat. In this study, large-scale quasi-vertically aligned sodium titanate nanowire (SNW) arrayed coatings incorporated with bioactive Cu ions were fabricated through a compound process involving acid etching, hydrothermal treatment (HT), and ion exchange (IE). A novel coating based on sustained ion release and a shape-preserving design is successfully obtained. Cu substituted Na in sodium titanate lattice to generate Cu-doped SNW (CNW), which maintains the micro-structure and phase components of the original SNW, and can be efficiently released from the structure by immersing them in physiological saline (PS) solutions, ensuring superior long-term structural stability. The synergistic effects of the acid etching, bidirectional cogrowth, and solution-strengthening mechanisms endow the coating with higher bonding strengths. In vitro antibacterial tests demonstrated that the CNW coatings exhibited effective good antibacterial properties against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria based on the continuous slow release of copper ions. This is an exciting attempt to achieve topographic, hydrophilic, and antibacterial activation of metal implants, demonstrating a paradigm for the activation of coatings without dissolution and providing new insights into insoluble ceramic-coated implants with high bonding strengths.