Development of dual-effect AW/Ag/CHI bioactive and antibacterial coating for orthopedic implant surfaces

Titanium implants, which are widely used in orthopedic implant applications, require surface treatments due to their low osteoinduction properties and the risk of postoperative infection. In this study, apatite wollastonite (AW)-based coatings with chitosan (CHI) and silver (Ag) added were applied to the titanium surface using dip coating and drop casting techniques. The obtained coating surfaces were characterized by FESEM, EDS, XRD, FTIR, and TGA–DSC. Biomineralization behaviors were examined by immersing the resulting coatings in simulated body fluid with pH 7.2–7.4. The antibacterial activities of the coatings obtained using S. aureus and E. coli bacterial colonies were examined. Following the successful coating of AW nanoparticles on the Ag and CHI implant substrate, the Ca/P ratio of the coated surface was obtained as 1.4–1.92% after the biomineralization process performed at 37° for 7 days. Ag particles were successfully distributed homogeneously with a 40–50-nm diameter in Ag-doped coatings. It was concluded that the successfully produced composite coating with bioactive and antibacterial properties is a suitable candidate material for metallic implant surfaces.

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