Hydroxyapatite Decorated with Tungsten Oxide Nanoparticles: New Composite Materials against Bacterial Growth

The availability of biomaterials able to counteract bacterial colonization is one of the main requirements of functional implants and medical devices. Herein, we functionalized hydroxyapatite (HA) with tungsten oxide (WO₃) nanoparticles in the aim to obtain composite materials with improved biological performance. To this purpose, we used HA, as well as HA functionalized with polyacrilic acid (HAPAA) or poly(ethylenimine) (HAPEI), as supports and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as stabilizing agent for WO₃ nanoparticles. The number of nanoparticles loaded on the substrates was determined through Molecular Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy and is quite small, so it cannot be detected through X-ray diffraction analysis. It increases from HAPAA, to HA, to HAPEI, in agreement with the different values of zeta potential of the different substrates. HRTEM and STEM images show the dimensions of the nanoparticles are very small, less than 1 nm. In physiological solution HA support displays a greater tungsten cumulative release than HAPEI, despite its smaller loaded amount. Indeed, WO₃ nanoparticles-functionalized HA exhibits a remarkable antibacterial activity against the Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus in absence of cytotoxicity, which could be usefully exploited in the biomedical field.