Calcium Phosphate Nanocoatings and Nanocomposites, Part 2: Thin Films for Slow Drug Delivery and Osteomyelitis

Abstract

During the last two decades although many calcium phosphate based nanomaterials have been proposed for both drug delivery, and bone regeneration, their coating applications have been somehow slow due to the problems related to their complicated synthesis methods. In order to control the efficiency of local drug delivery of a biomaterial the critical pore sizes as well as good control of the chemical composition is pertinent. A variety of calcium phosphate based nanocoated composite drug delivery systems are currently being investigated. This review aims to give an update into the advancements of calcium phosphate nanocoatings and thin film nanolaminates. In particular recent research on PLA/hydroxyapatite composite thin films and coatings into the slow drug delivery for the possible treatment of osteomyelitis is covered.

Keywords:

• antibiotics
• biofilm
• drug delivery
• hydroxyapatite
• nanocoatings
• nanocomposites
• nanolaminates
• osteomyelitis
• thin films

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to give special thanks to B Milthorpe, Faculty of Science UTS and R Cavaliere of iThree Institute, UTS for their assistance on biofilm work and for their continued support in search of the most appropriate biomaterial.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors would like to acknowledge and thank the Australian Academy of science-Horizon2020 grant and the University of Technology Sydney for the partial financial support of one of the authors during his PhD studies. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.