Titania Nanotubes as Silver Nanoparticle Carriers to Prevent Implant-Associated Infection

Titanium (Ti) and its alloys are widely used in the orthopedic and dental fields because of their good mechanical properties, corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. However, implant-associated infection remains one of the prevalent and catastrophic postoperative complications. In addition, construction of size-adjustable titania nanotubes (NTs) on Ti-based implants by anodisation has drawn tremendous attention since the first report in 1999. TiO2 NT can not only improve osteoblast functions in vitro and osseointegration ability in vivo compared with pure Ti but also serve as drug carriers to prevent implant-associated infection. This chapter reviews the synthesis method and biological properties of TiO2 NTs and focus on recent progress on TiO2 NTs loaded with Ag NPs as anti-infective coatings. The effects of titania nanotubes with embedded silver oxide nanoparticles on bacteria and osteoblasts. It may be concluded that the good long-term antibacterial activity of the NT-Ag2O is ascribed to the synergistic effects of released Ag and direct contact between the bacteria and Ag2O NPs.