Zirconia reinforced bio-active glass coating by spray pyrolysis: Structure, surface topography, in-vitro biological evaluation and antibacterial activities

Abstract Surface coating of titanium implants is a predominant technique for enhancing osseointegration and controlling bacterial adhesion for orthopedic applications. In this study, we have developed zirconia (Zr)-incorporated bioactive glass (BG) thin films coatings on Cp-Ti substrate. As Zr is expected to increase mechanical stability, coatings with different weight percentages of Zr incorporated bioglass were examined. XRD results of thin films, confirms the of sodium calcium silicate (Na2Ca2Si3O9) along with Na2Ca2Si2O7 phase. In-vitro biomineralization ability of the thin films was evaluated from in-vitro immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF) for up to 14 days. The apatite formation on the surface of the thin films after immersion studies observed using SEM confirms the bioactivity of the coatings. Hemocompatibility of thin films shows good compatibility with acceptable lysis of less than 2%. Further, the in-vitro cytocompatibility with MG-63 Osteoblast like cell lines showed significant improvement in cell viability. Moreover, BG-Zr composite-coated Cp-Ti substrate eventually decreased biofilm formation due to linear increase of surface roughness with increased content of Zr in BG matrix. Hence, the surface-modified Cp-Ti implant materials using BG-Zr composites displayed considerably enhanced bioactivity as well as improved osseointegrated surface suitable for orthopedic applications.