Corrosion resistance of Ti modified by chitosan-gold nanoparticles for orthopedic implantation

Highly uniform bionanocomposite film composed of chitosan (CS) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was synthesized successfully by electrodeposition method. The influence of AuNPs/CS bionanocomposite film on corrosion resistance of Ti was investigated. Surface morphology and compositional properties of the bionanocomposite were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Moreover, cyclic voltammetry (CV), open-circuit potential measurements (OCP), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization (Rp) were used to examine the corrosion behavior in Hanks' solution. In comparison with Ti, Nyquist and Bode plots displayed higher impedance values and phase angles for AuNPs/CS biocomposite denoting a more protective passive film on Ti with inhibition efficiency (IE%) of 98%. An electric equivalent circuit with three time constants was modeled for the bionanocomposite. In addition, the antibacterial effect revealed the high efficiencies of the bionanocomposite film for inhibiting bacterial growth. The combination of the high biocompatibility of chitosan and strong adsorption ability of AuNPs make AuNPs/CS bionanocomposite promising candidate for modifying biomaterial surfaces for medical implantation applications.