Líffræðifélag Íslands
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2013
Erindi 27



Development of a Novel Electrophoretic Deposition (EPD) Method for Depositing Chitosan on Titanium Implants



Markéta Foley (1), Ramona Lieder (3), Joseph T. Foley (1), Gissur Örlygsson (2) og Ólafur E. Sigurjónsson (1,3)

1) School of Science and Engineering, Reykjavík University, Iceland
2) Department of Materials, Biotechnology and Energy, Innovation Center Iceland, Iceland
3) The Blood Bank, Landspítali University Hospital, Iceland

Kynnir/Tengiliður: Ólafur E. Sigurjónsson (oes@ru.is)

Titanium and titanium alloys are frequently utilized in clinical treatment of orthopaedic injuries. Considerable research has focused on improving bone attachment to implants by coating titanium with biomaterials. Chitosan, a partially deacetylated form of chitin, is a promising coating agent under investigation. Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is currently being explored as a technique for applying bioactive coatings to implant surfaces. In this study, an EPD method was developed to coat titanium with chitosan. The titanium surface was pre-treated by sand-blasting and/or acid etching to obtain desired surface roughness. EPD was performed using a titanium cathode under constant voltage conditions with generated electric fields ranging from 0.5 to 6 V/cm. Coated surfaces were characterized by light microscopy, water contact angle measurement, SEM, and AFM. Preliminary results suggest that EPD is well-suited for depositing chitosan onto titanium implants (Figure 1). Future work will focus on minimizing porosity by using pulse-width modulation in place of constant voltage EPD. To reduce fringing effects and assist in reduction of porosity, a new EPD chamber with a vertical inter-electrode axis and a special sample mounting has been designed. Furthermore, in vitro cell culture experiments with MC3T3-E1 mouse pre-osteoblasts are planned to analyse cell bioactivity.