Porous Titanium Surfaces to Control Bacteria Growth: Mechanical Properties and Sulfonated Polyetheretherketone Coatings as Antibiofouling Approaches

Abstract

Here, titanium porous substrates were fabricated by a space holder technique. The relationship between microstructural characteristics (pore equivalent diameter, mean free-path between pores, roughness and contact surface), mechanical properties (Young’s modulus, yield strength and dynamic micro-hardness) and bacterial behavior are discussed. The bacterial strains evaluated are often found on dental implants: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The colony-forming units increased with the size of the spacer for both types of studied strains. An antibiofouling synthetic coating based on a sulfonated polyetheretherketone polymer revealed an effective chemical surface modification for inhibiting MRSA adhesion and growth. These findings collectively suggest that porous titanium implants designed with a pore size of 100−200 µm can be considered most suitable, assuring the best biomechanical and bifunctional anti-bacterial properties.

Keywords

• porous commercially pure titanium
• osseointegration
• sulfonated PEEK polymer
• instrumented micro indentation
• bacterial behavior