Electrophoretic deposition of chitosan/45S5 Bioglass® composite coatings for orthopaedic applications

This article presents experimental results on the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of bioresorbable chitosan/45S5 Bioglass® composite coatings for orthopaedic implants based on the Taguchi design of experiments (DOE) approach. The influence of EPD parameters including Bioglass® concentration, electric voltage and deposition time on deposition yield was studied by an orthogonal Taguchi array of L18 type. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and regression analysis based on the partial least-square method were used to identify the significant factors affecting the deposition yield and its stability during constant-voltage EPD. The coatings were characterised by high resolution scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It is shown that the co-deposition of polymer/Bioglass® system is very sensitive to the concentration of Bioglass® particles. The addition of Bioglass® to the chitosan suspension alters the deposition rate due to variation of pH, suspension conductivity, and zeta potential. For low Bioglass® concentrations, co-deposition of the chitosan and the bioactive glass particles occurs while at the higher concentrations massive deposition of the bioactive glass particles controls the deposition yield. The optimum condition for a high deposition rate with low standard deviation and homogeneous microstructure is achieved when an almost equal concentrations of chitosan and Bioglass® is utilized. The validity of the approach is shown by confirmation experiments at the predicted optimal condition, and the mechanism of electrophoretic co-deposition of the polymer/glass system is discussed.

Research highlights
► Electrophoretic deposition is used to deposit chitosan/ Bioglass® composite coatings.
► Taguchi design of experiments is used to study the influence of EPD parameters on deposition.
► Incorporation of chitosan provides electrosteric stabilization of bioactive glass particles.
► Addition of Bioglass® to the chitosan solution alters the deposition rate.
► Optimum coating condition is achieved at almost equal concentrations of chitosan and Bioglass®.