Biocompatible antimicrobial ZnO coatings on Ti13Nb13Zr alloy for orthopaedic applications
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1
Department of Biomaterials and Medical Device Engineering, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Roosevelt 40 Str, 41-800 Zabrze, Poland
2
Foundation of Cardiac Surgery Development, Wolności 345A Str, 41-800 Zabrze, Poland
Submission date: 2024-05-27
Acceptance date: 2024-06-25
Publication date: 2024-06-28
Engineering of Biomaterials 2024;(172):02
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ABSTRACT
Biocompatibility is one of the requirements that every medical device must meet. The biological assessment of an implant or other medical device is performed according to the requirements of the EN ISO 10933 standard. Despite research on the biocompatibility of medical devices, the risk of bacterial, peri-implant, or hospital-acquired infections still exists, which prolongs healing processes and may cause issues with the proper acceptance of the implant by the body. To mitigate these infections, various solutions have been proposed to enhance antibacterial properties. The work attempts to develop and assess the suitability of the ZnO antibacterial coating to improve the physical and chemical properties of the Ti13Nb13Zr titanium alloy used for implants in bone surgery. The scope of the research included surface wettability tests, scanning electron microscope observations, surface roughness measurements, tribological tests, tests of coating adhesion to the surface, evaluation of electrochemical properties, and cytotoxicity tests. Based on the results, it was found that the applied ZnO coating showed the hydrophilic character of the surface and also improved the electrochemical properties of the surface, so it can be effectively used in biomedical applications simultaneously improving resistance to hydrophobic strains of bacteria.