Antimicrobial Electrodeposited Silver-Containing Calcium Phosphate Coatings

Biocompatible antimicrobial coatings may enhance the function of many orthopedic implants by combating infection. Hydroxyapatite is a choice mineral for such a coating as it is native to bone and silver would be a possible antimicrobial agent as it is also commonly used in biomedical applications. The aim of the research is to develop a silver-containing calcium phosphate (Ag/Ca-P) coating via electrochemical deposition on titanium substrates as this allows for controlled coating buildup on complex shapes and porous surfaces. Two different deposition approaches are explored: one-step Ag/Ca-P(1) deposition coatings, containing silver ions as microsized silver phosphate particles embedded in the Ca-P matrix; and via a two-step method (Ag/Ca-P(2)) where silver is deposited as metallic silver nanoparticle on the Ca-P coating. The Ag/Ca-P(1) coating displays a bacterial reduction of 76.1 ± 8.3% via Ag-ion leaching. The Ag/Ca-P(2) coating displays a bacterial reduction of 83.7 ± 4.5% via contact killing. Interestingly, by preincubation in phosphate-buffered saline solution, bacterial reduction improves to 97.6 ± 2.7 and 99.7 ± 0.4% for Ag/Ca-P(1) and Ag/Ca-P(2) coatings, respectively, due to leaching of formed AgCl⁽ species. The biocompatibility evaluation indicates that the Ag/Ca-P(1) coating is cytotoxic towards osteoblasts while the Ag/Ca-P(2) coating shows excellent compatibility. The electrochemical deposition of highly bactericidal coatings with excellent biocompatibility will enable us to coat future bone implants even with complex or porous structures.