Smart Coatings for Orthopedic Implants

Replacement of joints is a significant subspecialty of bone replacement surgery that calls for mechanically robust and biologically compatible, or biocompatible, implants. Stainless steels (SS), cobalt chromium alloys, or titanium (Ti) and its alloys is typically used to make orthopaedic implants. In this study, incorporating tellurium dioxide with niobium pentoxide is an effective method to impart the coatings with antibacterial properties by a thermal deposition method on titanium substrate. The developed coatings were treated for alkaline treatment and was subjected for in vitro study in 1.5 Kukubo's simulated body fluid to enhance biogrowth and adhesion strength. The physico-chemical and surface characterization revealed the presence of nanocomposite coatings with the deposition apatite on the surface of titanium metal strip was confirmed by XRD, FTIR, EIS, CV and SEM analysis studies. The electrochemical experiments revealed that the developed coatings had high adhesion strength and high biomimetic growth characteristics. The antibacterial test was used to evaluate the antibacterial properties of tellurium dioxide-niobium pentoxide coatings respectively. Antibacterial assays determined that treatment with nanocomposite coating induced a decay in the growth of both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The highest zone of inhibition was observed for Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli respectively.

Incorporating tellurium dioxide (TeO2) and selenium dioxide (SeO2) with HAp coatings is also an effective method to impart coatings with anti-infective and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, the thermal decomposition method for the formation of TeO2-SeO2-HAp nanocomposite coatings on titanium substrate to fabricate its biological and osseointegration behavior of implants was employed. The resultant coatings were chosen for in vitro study in Kukubo's 1.5 simulated body fluid after alkaline treatment and subjected to physio-chemical characterization, electrochemical evaluation, surface and topographical analyses.