Bacterial adhesion on amorphous and crystalline metal oxide coatings.

Several studies have demonstrated the influence of surface properties (surface energy, composition and topography) of biocompatible materials on the adhesion of cells/bacteria on solid substrates; however, few have provided information about the effect of the atomic arrangement or crystallinity. Using magnetron sputtering deposition, we produced amorphous and crystalline TiO2 and ZrO2 coatings with controlled micro and nanoscale morphology. The effect of the structure on the physical-chemical surface properties was carefully analyzed. Then, we studied how these parameters affect the adhesion of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Our findings demonstrated that the nano-topography and the surface energy were significantly influenced by the coating structure. Bacterial adhesion at micro-rough (2.6 μm) surfaces was independent of the surface composition and structure, contrary to the observation in sub-micron (0.5 μm) rough surfaces, where the crystalline oxides (TiO2>ZrO2) surfaces exhibited higher numbers of attached bacteria. Particularly, crystalline TiO2, which presented a predominant acidic nature, was more attractive for the adhesion of the negatively charged bacteria. The information provided by this study, where surface modifications are introduced by means of the deposition of amorphous or crystalline oxide coatings, offers a route for the rational design of implant surfaces to control or inhibit bacterial adhesion.