Abstract
The dextran-thyme magnesium-doped hydroxyapatite (10MgHAp-Dex-thyme) composite layers were prepared by a dip-coating procedure from stable suspensions and further analyzed for the first time. Different characterization techniques were employed to explore the physical-chemical features of the 10MgHAp-Dex-thyme suspensions and derived coatings. Information regarding the 10MgHAp-Dex-thyme suspensions was extracted on the basis of dynamic light scattering, zeta potential, and ultrasound measurements. The crystalline quality of the biocomposite powders—resulting after the centrifugation of suspensions—and the layers deposited on glass was assessed by X-ray diffraction in symmetric and grazing incidence geometries, respectively. The chemical structure and presence of functional groups were evaluated for both powder and coating by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance mode. The extent of the antimicrobial effect range of the biocomposite suspensions and coatings was tested against different Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and fungus (Candida albicans) strains with promising results.
Highlights
In the last decades, the general increase of life-expectancy combined with a higher incidence of bone disorders has led to a growing demand for bone medical devices, capable to replace, reinforce, or treat affected hard tissues [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
This result was in agreement with the previous studies conducted by Patel and Agrawal [43], which showed that for values >±30 mV, the suspensions had good stability
We investigated for the first time, the influence of Mg-doped HAp enhanced with thyme essential oil in a dextran matrix, in both solution and coating form, on the development of microbial biofilms of some of the most prevalent fungal and Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains
Summary
The general increase of life-expectancy combined with a higher incidence of bone disorders has led to a growing demand for bone medical devices (e.g., bone graft substitutes; implants with faster osseointegration and long-lasting performance), capable to replace, reinforce, or treat affected hard tissues [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. The bone became the second most frequently transplanted tissue/substance in the human body [8]. In this context, the development of novel materials for such biomedical applications has attracted considerable attention around the globe [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Due to its remarkable biocompatible and osteoconductive properties and chemical similarity with the major bone mineral phase, hydroxyapatite [HAp, Ca10 (PO4 ) (OH)2 ] is currently used for numerous biomedical applications in a wide range of healthcare domains, such as orthopedics, dentistry, pharmaceutics, cosmetics, as well as in the food industry [6,7,9,10,11,12]. The HAp has been reported to boost the Coatings 2020, 10, 57; doi:10.3390/coatings10010057 www.mdpi.com/journal/coatings
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