Synthesis and in-vitro antibacterial properties of a functionally graded Ag impregnated composite surface.

Silver is considered promising in medical devices to prevent infection due to its excellent properties of broad antibacterial spectrum and persistent antibacterial activity. Herein, silver impregnated functionally graded composite surfaces have been developed by a novel duplex plasma deposition technique, which combines the double glow sputtering process and active screen plasma nitriding process. The composite surfaces include a surface antibacterial layer and a bottom supporting layer, which are deposited simultaneously. The functionally graded structure endows the composite surfaces with antibacterial activity, combined with improved wear resistance. The multilayer structures were observed by scanning electron microscopy, and the graded distribution of silver and nitrogen was verified by glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to analyze the microstructures and chemical states of the components. Results from physical properties tests indicated that the composite surfaces have increased hardness, lower contact angles, excellent scratch resistance and wear resistance. The in-vitro antibacterial tests using the Gram-negative E. coli. NCTC 10418 also showed that over 99% of bacteria were killed after 5 h contacting with the composite surface.

Towards near-permanent CoCrMo prosthesis surface by combining micro-texturing and low temperature plasma carburising.

An advanced surface engineering process combining micro-texture with a plasma carburising process was produced on CoCrMo femoral head, and their tribological properties were evaluated by the cutting-edge pendulum hip joint simulator coupled with thin film colorimetric interferometry. FESEM and GDOES showed that precipitation-free C S-phase with a uniform case depth of 10µm was formed across the micro-textures after duplex treatment. Hip simulator tests showed that the friction coefficient was reduced by 20% for micro-metre sized texture, and the long-term tribological property of microtexture was enhanced by the C-supersaturated crystalline microstructure formed on the surface of duplex treated CoCrMo, thereby enhancing biotribological durability significantly. In-situ colorimetric interferometry confirmed that the maximum film thickness around texture area was 530nm, indicating that the additional lubricant during sliding motion might provide exceptional bearing life.

The generation of wear-resistant antimicrobial stainless steel surfaces by active screen plasma alloying with N and nanocrystalline Ag.

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), a large proportion of which are derived from contact transmission, represent a massive global challenge. In this study a novel active screen plasma (ASP) alloying technology has been developed to generate highly durable antimicrobial surfaces by combining a wear-resistant S-phase with nanocrystalline silver for medical grade stainless steel. The phase constituent, microstructure, composition and surface roughness of the alloyed surfaces were fully characterized, and the surface hardness, wear resistance and antimicrobial efficiency of the treated surfaces were evaluated. Experimental results showed that the surface hardness and sliding wear resistance of medical grade 316LVM stainless steel can be effectively improved by the ASP alloying treatment; furthermore, the Ag alloyed S-phase can achieve 93% reduction in Escherichia coli (E. coli) after 6 h contact time. Therefore, the novel ASP alloying treatment can not only improve wear resistance but also confer antibacterial activity to stainless steel surfaces.