Fabrication of selenium-deposited and chitosan-coated titania nanotubes with anticancer and antibacterial properties

To exploit titanium materials with anticancer and antibacterial properties, TiO2 nanotubes arrays as nanoreservoirs for deposition of selenium were generated onto titanium substrates and then covered with chitosan layer. The deposition of selenium in TiO2 nanotubes was performed with electrodeposition. The physical properties (surface morphologies, chemical compositions and wettability) of the substrates were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and contact angle measurement, respectively. The growth behaviors of both healthy osteoblasts and cancerous osteoblasts on the substrates were investigated in vitro. The selenium-deposited and chitosan-coated TiO2 nanotubes substrates (TiO2 nanotubes-Se-Chi) demonstrated great potential for promoting the proliferation of healthy osteoblasts and inhibiting the growth of cancerous osteoblasts. Meanwhile, the TiO2 nanotubes-Se-Chi substrates displayed a sustained release of selenium for 21 days. The antibacterial properties of the prepared substrates were evaluated with Escherichia coli (E. coli). The result showed that TiO2 nanotubes-Se-Chi substrates had long term antibacterial capacity. The approach in this study provides an alternative to fabricate anticancer and antibacterial titanium-based implants for potential clinical application.

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► Titanium substrates with anticancer and antibacterial properties were fabricated.
► TiO2 nanotubes substrates were doped with selenium while covering with a chitosan layer.
► The substrates promoted the proliferaion of healthy osteoblasts while inhibited the growth of cancerous osteoblasts.
► Titanium substrates display good antibacterial property.