Antibacterial activities of zeolite/silver-graphene oxide nanocomposite in bone implants

Abstract

The capability to hinder microbial growth on the implant surfaces is of great interest in medical applications. This paper presents our study on the synthesis of zeolite/silver-graphene oxide (Zeo/Ag-GO) nanocomposite to enhance antibacterial activities of bone implants. Zeo/Ag-GO was synthesized using via semi-powder metallurgy and then characterized in terms of microstructure, antibacterial activities, and biocompatibility. Our microstructure results demonstrated that the Ag particles were anchored and uniformly distributed in the composite structure; assessment of antibacterial activity against the Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) revealed that Zeo/Ag-GO was better than Zeo/Ag, but Zeo has no antimicrobial activity observed; and biocompatibility assays showed that both Zeo/Ag and Zeo/Ag-GO had no negative effect on the proliferation of MG-63, while Zeo/Ag-GO promoted better cell viability. Taken together, Zeo/Ag-GO has great antimicrobial performance with suitable cytocompatibility, thus potentially being used to reduce implant-associated infections.