Electrospray deposited plant-based polymer nanocomposite coatings with enhanced antibacterial activity for Ti-6Al-4V implants

Abstract

The present study was designed to apply the Electrospray Deposition (ESD) coating on metallic biomaterials used in dentistry with plant-based polymer nanocomposite materials. Nano silvers (AgNPs) were produced with an average size of 34 nm and homogenous distribution. As the nanosilver modification rate in the coatings increased, the surface roughness decreased compared with that of the neat sample. The most mechanically and chemically stable coating samples were the 0.1 %, 0.3 %, and 0.5 % nanosilver-modified samples. In addition, plant extracts increased the mechanical strength of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) coatings by at least two times compared to that of neat coatings. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) images revealed that the surface roughness of the nanosilver-modified coatings was lower than that of the plant extract-modified and neat samples. It was observed that bacterial growth could be reduced by up to 100 times with increasing nano‑silver ratio in all nano-silver-modified coatings. Toxicity tests confirmed that the green synthesized nano-silvers did not show toxic effects on HaCaT live cells and A549 lung cancer cells, with the use of concentrations of 62 μg/mL and below in coatings.