Anodizing/Anaphoretic Electrodeposition of Nano-Calcium Phosphate/Chitosan Lactate Multifunctional Coatings on Titanium with Advanced Corrosion Resistance, Bioactivity, and Antibacterial Properties

The aim of this work was to investigate corrosion resistivity, bioactivity, and antibacterial activity of novel nano-amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) potentially multifunctional composite coatings with and without chitosan oligosaccharide lactate (ChOL), ACP + ChOL/TiO2 and ACP/TiO2 ACP + ChOL/TiO2, respectively, on the titanium substrate. The coatings were obtained by new single-step in situ anodization of the substrate to generate TiO2 and the anaphoretic electrodeposition process of ACP and ChOL. The obtained coatings were around 300 ± 15 μm thick and consisted of two phases, namely, TiO2 and hybrid composite phases. Both ACP/TiO2 and ACP + ChOL/TiO2 have improved corrosion stability, whereas the ACP + ChOL/TiO2 coating showed better corrosion stability. It was shown that at the very start of the deposition process, the formation of the ChOL/TiO2 layer takes place predominantly, which is followed by the inclusion of ChOL into ACP with simultaneous growth of TiO2. This deposition mechanism resulted in the formation of strongly bonded uniform stable coating with high corrosion resistance. In vitro bioactivity was investigated by immersion of the samples in simulated body fluid (SBF). There is in-bone-like apatite formation on both ACP/TiO2 and ACP + ChOL/TiO2 surfaces upon immersion into SBF, which was proven by X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. While ACP/TiO2 shows no antibacterial activity, ACP + ChOL/TiO2 samples exhibited three- to fourfold decreases in the number of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively, after 420 min. The probable mechanism is binding ChOL with the bacterial cell wall, inhibiting its growth, altering the permeability of the cell membrane, and leading to bacterial death.