Novel hydroxyapatite/graphene oxide/collagen bioactive composite coating on Ti16Nb alloys by electrodeposition

A novel implant coating material containing graphene oxide (GO) and collagen (COL), and hydroxyapatite (HA) was fabricated with the aid of tannic acid by electrodeposition. The surface of Ti16Nb alloy was subjected to anodic oxidation, and then HA-GO coating was applied to Ti16Nb surface by cathodic method. Then, COL was deposited on the surface of the HA-GO coating by the biomimetic method. HA, HA-GO, HA-GO-COL coatings on the surface of the Ti16Nb alloy have increased the corrosion resistance by the formation of a barrier layer on the surface. For HA-GO-COL coating, the highest corrosion resistance is obtained due to the compactness and homogeneity of the coating structure. The contact angle of the bare Ti16Nb is approximately 65°, while the contact angle of the coated samples is close to 0°. Herein, the increased surface wettability is important for cell adhesion. The surface roughness of the uncoated Ti16Nb alloy was between 1 and 3 μm, while the surface roughness of the coated surfaces was measured between 20 and 110 μm. The contact between the bone and the implant has been improved. Graphene oxide-containing coatings have improved the antibacterial properties compared to the GO-free coating using S. aureus. The hardness and elastic modulus of the coatings were measured by the nanoindentation test, and the addition of GO and collagen to the HA coating resulted in an increase in strength. The addition of GO to the HA coating reduced the viability of 3 T3 fibroblast cells, whereas the addition of collagen to HA-GO coat increased the cell adhesion and viability.