Biofunctional Mg coating on PEEK for improving bioactivity

High purity Mg was successfully coated on polyetheretherketone (PEEK) by vapor deposition method in order to improve the bioactivity including antibacterial property of PEEK implant. The morphology and elemental composition of the coating were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), showing that the coating was mainly composed of Mg at deposition temperature of 175 °C, 185 °C, 200 °C and 230 °C. The higher the substrate temperature was, the larger the Mg particle size was. The coating degraded and gradually peeled off from the surface of PEEK after up to 21 days' immersion. It was found that the degradation of Mg coating could strongly kill Staphylococcus aureus with antibacterial rate reaching to 99%. Mg can be expected to be coated on those bio-inert biomaterials to offer specific bioactivities.