Synthesis and antibacterial properties of novel Al₂O₃-Ag anodised composite coating

ABSTRACT

In this research, Al₂O₃-Ag anodic coating was synthesised by a single-step anodising and the antibacterial properties were investigated. The microstructure of the coatings was studied by FESEM and XRD analyses. The hardness test was also carried out to assess the mechanical properties of the coatings. Antimicrobial susceptibility and colony count test (CFU) methods were used to evaluate the antibacterial behaviour. The results showed that the microstructure of the coatings were amorphous with a columnar structure containing the longitudinal porosities. The average pore diameter was obtained about 55 nm and 13 nm for Al₂O₃-Ag and Al₂O₃ coatings, respectively. Moreover, the antibacterial results also demonstrated that the composite anodic films had the antibacterial activity whilst the Gram-negative bacteria were more sensitive against silver nanoparticles in comparison with the Gram-positive bacteria.

KEYWORDS:

• Anodising
• Al₂O₃-Ag
• coating
• antibacterial activity

Acknowledgments

The corresponding author would like to appreciate Dr. Shahram Alirezaei for his special and helpful assistance in this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.