Fabrication of bioactive, antibacterial TiO2 nanotube surfaces, coated with magnetron sputtered Ag nanostructures for dental applications.

We investigated whether a silver coating on an anodic oxidized titania (TiO2) nanotube surface would be useful for preventing infections in dental implants. We used a magnetron sputtering process to deposit Ag nanoparticles onto a TiO2 surface. We studied different sputtering input power densities and maintained other parameters constant. We used scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and contact angle measurements to characterize the coated surfaces. Staphylococcus aureus was used to evaluate antibacterial activity. The X-ray diffraction analysis showed peaks that corresponded to metallic Ag, Ti, O, and biocompatible anatase phase TiO2 on the examined surfaces. The contact angles of the Ag nanoparticle-loaded surfaces were significantly lower at 2.5 W/cm2 input power under pulsed direct current mode compared to commercial, untreated Ti surfaces. In vitro antibacterial analysis indicated that a significantly reduced number of S. aureus were detected on an Ag nanoparticle-loaded TiO2 nanotube surface compared to control untreated surfaces. No cytotoxicity was noted, except in the group treated with 5 W/cm2 input power density, which was the highest input of power density we tested for the magnetron sputtering process. Overall, we concluded that it was feasible to create antibacterial Ag nanoparticle-loaded titanium nanotube surfaces with magnetron sputtering.