Nanocomposite Coatings for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

<p> New electrophoretic deposition methods for the fabrication of advanced organic-inorganic composite coatings on metallic substrates for biomedical applications have been developed. In the proposed methods, chitosan was used as a matrix for the fabrication of multilayer and functional graded chitosan- hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings. The HA particles showed preferred orientation of c-axis parallel to the layer surface, which is similar to the bone structure. Electrochemical studies showed that the obtained coatings provided corrosion protection of the metallic substrates, such as stainless steel and Nitinol.</p> <p> The feasibility of co-deposition of chitosan and heparin has been demonstrated. Composite chitosan-heparin layers were used for the surface modification of chitosan-HA coatings. Obtained results paved the way for the electrophoretic fabrication of novel coatings for biomedical implants with improved blood compatibility.</p> <p> The feasibility of co-deposition of hyaluronic acid and HA has also been demonstrated. The co-deposition of hyaluronic acid and HA resulted in the fabrication of novel nanocomposite films by electrodeposition. The chemical composition, microstructure, corrosion protection, and other functional properties of the nanocomposites have been investigated. Co-deposition of hyaluronic acid and multiwalled carbon nanotubes has been studied by TGA/DT A and SEM studies.</p> <p> The feasibility of deposition of novel composites based on alginic acid has been demonstrated. New electrochemical strategies were used for the fabrication of alginic acid-HA, alginic acid-heparin and alginic acid -hyaluronic acid nanocomposites. The composition of these nanocomposite coatings can be varied by variation in bath composition for EPD.</p> <p> The electrochemical mechanisms for the fabrication of all these advanced organic-inorganic composite coatings have been developed.</p>