The effects of blood conditioning films on the antimicrobial and retention properties of zirconium-nitride silver surfaces.

External bone fixation devices provide support and rehabilitation for severely damaged/broken bones, however, this invasive procedure is prone to infection. Zirconium nitride/silver (Ti-ZrN/Ag) coatings were characterised for surface topography, chemical composition, physicochemistry and antimicrobial efficacy (against Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis), in the presence of a blood conditioning film. The conditioning film altered the width of the microtopography of the surfaces however, the depth of the features remained relatively constant.

Author Correction: Antimicrobial activity of Ti-ZrN/Ag coatings for use in biomaterial applications.

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Antimicrobial activity of Ti-ZrN/Ag coatings for use in biomaterial applications.

Severely broken bones often require external bone fixation pins to provide support but they can become infected. In order to reduce such infections, novel solutions are required. Titanium zirconium nitride (Ti-ZrN) and Ti-ZrN silver (Ti-ZrN/Ag) coatings were deposited onto stainless steel.

Deposition of Visible Light Active Photocatalytic Bismuth Molybdate Thin Films by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering.

Bismuth molybdate thin films were deposited by reactive magnetron co-sputtering from two metallic targets in an argon/oxygen atmosphere, reportedly for the first time. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis showed that the ratio of bismuth to molybdenum in the coatings can be effectively controlled by varying the power applied to each target. Deposited coatings were annealed in air at 673 K for 30 min.

Structural formation and photocatalytic activity of magnetron sputtered titania and doped-titania coatings.

Titania and doped-titania coatings can be deposited by a wide range of techniques; this paper will concentrate on magnetron sputtering techniques, including "conventional" reactive co-sputtering from multiple metal targets and the recently introduced high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS). The latter has been shown to deliver a relatively low thermal flux to the substrate, whilst still allowing the direct deposition of crystalline titania coatings and, therefore, offers the potential to deposit photocatalytically active titania coatings directly onto thermally sensitive substrates. The deposition of coatings via these techniques will be discussed, as will the characterisation of the coatings by XRD, SEM, EDX, optical spectroscopy, etc.

Quantifying the pattern of microbial cell dispersion, density and clustering on surfaces of differing chemistries and topographies using multifractal analysis.

The effects of surface topography on bacterial distribution across a surface are of extreme importance when designing novel, hygienic or antimicrobial surface coatings. The majority of methods that are deployed to describe the pattern of cell dispersion, density and clustering across surfaces are currently qualitative. This paper presents a novel application of multifractal analysis to quantitatively measure these factors using medically relevant microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus or Staphylococcus epidermidis).

Antimicrobial activity of nanocomposite zirconium nitride/silver coatings to combat external bone fixation pin infections.

During external fixation, temporary implants are used to penetrate the skin, muscle and bone to support severely fractured bones. This creates a biologically critical interface at the site of entry, which potentially allows a risk of infection. The aim of this study, therefore, was to investigate potential antimicrobial nanocomposites to combat infection.