Room-temperature deposition of hydroxyapatite/antibiotic composite coatings by vacuum cold spraying for antibacterial applications

To develop implants with long-term antibacterial property, hydroxyapatite (HA)-gentamicin sulfate (GS) composite powder were synthesized and deposited onto titanium substrates by vacuum cold spraying at room temperature. The successful fabrication of the HA-GS composite powder and coatings was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis, respectively. Gentamicin release kinetics, antibacterial property and biocompatibility were systematically investigated in vitro. Results indicate that we can effectively load the coating with antibiotic and the coating shows long-term antibacterial capacity. Moreover, the HA-GS composite coatings displayed excellent biocompatibility. The approach in this study provides an alternative to fabricate an efficient bioactive drug delivery system for biomedical applications.