Nano-Tellurium (Te)-Titanioum Synergetic Antibacterial Coatings for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Two different kind of nanocolumnar titanium coatings were prepared using two sputtering systems with very different features -a laboratory setup and semi-industrial equipment-, possessing different morphologies -150 nm long columns tilted 20° from the normal and 300 nm long ones tilted 40°, respectively-. The coatings exhibit similar antibacterial properties against Gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria. Therefore, a green chemistry route was followed for the synthesis of tellurium nanostructures, that are used as coating agents for the metallic surfaces. As a consequence, the antibacterial properties were enhanced, especially for the long nanocolumns case. The biocompatibility was preserved in all the nanostructured coatings for osteoblasts cells. Besides, different tellurium nanostructures -both nanoparticles and nanowires- were used for the coating of these metallic surfaces, predicting different enhancements in the biocompatibility of the structures. Besides, anticancer studies were performed. Therefore, a new nanotellurium-based functionalization of titanium metallic surfaces is presented with an enhancement of the biomedical applications of these coatings, that can be used in multiple applications.