ABSTRACT
In this study, gold nanotubes were fabricated by electrophoretic deposition using a titania nanotube layer as a template, and then the surface characteristics, biocompatibility and antibacterial effect of gold nanotubes were evaluated. Gold nanotubes of 100 nm diameter were fabricated by depositing 4 nm and 15 nm gold nanoparticles on anodized 100 nm titania nanotubes by citrate reduction and electrophoretic deposition. As a result of the UV-Vis diffuse spectrophotometer, 4 nm and 15 nm gold nanotubes showed strong absorption at 702~774 nm and 753~760 nm, respectively. Also, the maximum absorption wavelength was shifted to the longer wavelength as the coating time of the gold nanoparticles increased. FE-SEM observation and EDX analysis resulted that 0.1~0.5 wt% gold nanoparticles uniformly were stacked on the top layer of titania nanotubes. As a result of MTT cell test, the relative absorbance value of all experimental groups after 24 hours and 48 hours of incubation exceeded 70% indicating excellent biocompatibility. The effect of the near infrared laser light on the adhesion and growth of gold nanotubes showed excellent antibacterial activity regardless of the coating time of gold nanoparticles. Therefore, it is confirmed that the gold nanotube coating technology based on the titania nanotube template is supposed to be highly applicable to a titanium implant surface treatment technology with the remote control thermal treatment of a near-infrared laser.