Ceramic composite coatings for surgical implants
A recent study proposes Chitosan-based ceramic composite coatings reinforced with carbon nanotubes for surgical implants.
Biomaterials containing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) represent a class of composites, which have generally been underexploited in the medical field. However, recognition of the potential utility of this class of composite materials may form the basis to develop new CNT biomaterials for implants and regenerative medicine scaffolds. Nanocomposite coatings containing chitosan matrix (CHI) reinforced with multiwall CNTs and CaHPO4 (DCPA) were deposited on pure magnesium substrates using a flexible chemical conversion approach.
High antibacterial performance
Test results showed that the tri-phasic composite coating (CHI/CNTs/DCPA) exhibits the highest electrochemical corrosion resistance in comparison with the bi-phasic composite coating (CHI/CNTs and CHI/DCPA) and monophasic CHI-coated magnesium. The bi-phasic (CHI/CNTS) and tri-phasic (CHI/CNTs/CaHPO4) composite coatings revealed high antibacterial performance against Staphylococcus aureus. These corrosion results and the successful deposition of CNT-reinforced CHI/DCPA on pure Mg substrate suggest that the conversion coating approach is effective for the production of new composite coatings for either regenerative medicine or functional implants.
The study has been published in Journal of Coatings Technology and Research, Volume 18, Issue 4, July 2021.
