In vitro bioactivity of titanium implants coated with bicomponent hybrid biodegradable polymers

In order to improve the bioactivity and biocompatibility of titanium (Ti) implants, we designed a novel biodegradable hybrid (polycaprolactone/polylactic acid, PCL/PLA) membrane to coat Ti surfaces. The bicomponent PCL/PLA membrane was applied to a Ti substrate starting with the coating of Ti samples with a porous PLA film layer using a dip-coating technique. This was followed by deposition of electrospun PCL nanofibers onto the Ti substrate, resulting in a PCL/PLA bicomponent hybrid coating layer. The cytocompatibility, bioactivity and corrosion performance of PCL/PLA-coated Ti samples was compared to PLA-coated Ti samples and untreated Ti samples. When placed in Hanks' solution, apatite formed on the treated Ti samples but not on untreated Ti samples. When assessing Ti cytocompatibility and MC3T3-E1 osteoblast adherence, proliferation, and survival, our results showed superior performance by polymer-treated Ti samples compared to untreated Ti samples, and maximal osteoblast cell viability was achieved with the bicomponent PCL/PLA hybrid coating layer. Furthermore, during the potentiodynamic polarization test in simulated body fluid, the polymer-coated Ti samples showed corrosion resistance. Therefore, the approach described herein may serve as a basis for the development of polymer-coated Ti surfaces that can be used in dental or orthopedic implants