Agustin Agostini

Gaststudent (National University of Mar del Plata, Argentina, I.DEAR program)

Development and characterization of multifunctional composite coatings for metallic implants

Supervisors: Rezvan Azari, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Metallic implants generally lack osteoinductive properties, and if bone ingrowth is not effective, they may develop the rapid formation of a non-adherent fibrous capsule at the interface. This, in turn, can lead to bone interfacial loosening and implant failure [1]. Bioactive glasses (BGs) are attractive materials due to their ability to bond to bone, safely dissolve within the body, and stimulate osteogenesis [2], [3]. Consequently, their use in composite coatings for implants has gained significant importance in recent years [3]. BGs can be modified by incorporating different active ions such as Cu2+, Ag+, Sr2+, Mg2+, Fe3+/Fe2+, and Zn2+ to act as a therapeutic agent [2]. Zinc ion (Zn2+) plays a crucial role in bone formation and mineralization, while also contributing to homeostasis, angiogenesis, and antibacterial effects [2], [4]. The aim of this study is to synthesize zinc-doped BG nanoparticles to be incorporated in composite coatings by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique following a procedure developed at the FAU Institute of Biomaterials [4], to modify surface properties of metallic implants.

[1] M. P. Nikolova and M. D. Apostolova, “Advances in Multifunctional Bioactive Coatings for Metallic Bone Implants,” Materials (Basel)., vol. 16, no. 1, 2023, doi: 10.3390/ma16010183.

[2] V. M. Schatkoski et al., “Current advances concerning the most cited metal ions doped bioceramics and silicate-based bioactive glasses for bone tissue engineering,” Ceram. Int., vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 2999–3012, Feb. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2020.09.213.

[3] M. Miola, E. Verné, F. E. Ciraldo, L. Cordero-Arias, and A. R. Boccaccini, “Electrophoretic deposition of chitosan/45S5 bioactive glass composite coatings doped with Zn and Sr,” Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol., vol. 3, no. OCT, pp. 1–13, 2015, doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2015.00159.

[4] Z. Neščáková et al., “Multifunctional zinc ion doped sol – gel derived mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles for biomedical applications,” Bioact. Mater., vol. 4, pp. 312–321, Dec. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2019.10.002

[5] R. Azari and A. R. Boccaccini, „Effect of Processing Temperature on Electrophoretic Deposition (EPD)-Derived Bioactive Composite Coatings for Metallic Bone Implants“, Surfaces and Interfaces (2025) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468023025000343