Film Ag/Au Heterostructures to Functionalize Implant Materials: Composition, Structure, Antibacterial Activity.

Film heterostructures of compositions Ag/Au/Ti and Ag/Au/CFR-PEEK are obtained by thermal evaporation with subsequent deposition of metallic gold sublayers and silver nanostructures on modern biomaterials (Ti-6Al-4V alloy, polyether ether ketone CFR-PEEK). Silver concentration is varied within 2.1-20.8 µg/cm2 by changing the initial metal portion (1.2-5 mg) and the number of successive depositions (1–3). According to SEM data, Ag nanofilms with a thickness up to 10-15 nm are formed on the surface of gold sublayers. According to XPS results, gold is present in the metallic state on the surface of biomaterials whereas along with metal, the Ag2O oxide phase is detected for silver. The dynamics of silver dissolution from the Ag/Au surface is analyzed by ICP-AES (2-48 h). It is found that regardless of the silver concentration, the samples demonstrate moderate dynamics of releasing metal ions; some amount of gold is detected together with silver in the solution. The absence of cytotoxicity of the synthesized film heterostructures in vitro (L-929 cells, viability >95-98%) is shown. Heterostructures completely suppress the growth of colonies of Gram-negative (P. aeruginosa) and Gram-positive (S. aureus) bacteria after 6 h and 24 h action respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]