Preparation and characterization of chitosan-silver/hydroxyapatite composite coatings onTiO2 nanotube for biomedical applications

A biocomposite coating containing chitosan, silver, and hydroxyapatite was developed on anodized titanium substrate by electrochemical deposition. Coatings were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and polarisation studies. Results showed that the prepared coatings had compact and dense morphology with a thickness of 6.2 ± 0.7 μm and that silver was evenly distributed. Testing the prepared coatings with Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains exhibited antibacterial activity because of the synergistic effect of silver and chitosan. The prepared coatings were also found to be nontoxic to MC3T3-E1 cells. These results suggested that chitosan/silver-hydroxyapatite biocomposite coatings can prevent the bacterial infection of implants.