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Mg and Mg alloys are of interest for biodegradable implants as they readily corrode in biological fluids, and dissolved Mg ions are nontoxic. Even though it is well known that Mg dissolution leads to pH increase in the surroundings, the effect of the corrosion-induced alkalization on the biological environment has not been studied in detail. We therefore explored the interactions between corrosion-induced pH increase and cell growth on Mg alloy AZ91D surface. Cell adhesion and spreading on the alloy surface is unimpeded initially. However, with time a large fraction of cells de-adhere. We attribute this to the observed increase of the pH in the cell culture medium in the process of alloy dissolution. Cytotoxicity tests with HeLa cells grown on glass surfaces confirm that cell death increases with increasing alkalinity of the cell culture medium. We also show that a the cells that adhere on the Mg alloy surface act as a corrosion-blocking surface layer. In consequence, a slower pH increase in the medium takes place when the alloy surface is covered with cells. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements (EIS) verify that a cell layer slows down the corrosion process.

The use of biological entities in biotechnology and the biomedical field is of great interest as the biocompatibility and the functionality of naturally occurring is usually higher compared to other biomaterials, for example, synthetic polymers. Processing of natural biomolecules, including proteins like collagen and also living cells and bacteria, to develop medical devices, bioactive coatings, functionalized implants, tissue scaffolds, or biosensors, is however challenging. Electrophoretic deposition, a technique that takes advantage of the presence of charged particles or molecules in suitable solvents, is a low-temperature process suitable for manipulating a wide range of biomolecules and biological entities preserving their bioactivity, which could be otherwise lost by processing at high temperatures. Another advantage of EPD is the possibility to use aqueous suspensions to process biological entities given that organic solvents also could lead to degradation of biomolecules. This paper gives an overview of the available literature on the application of EPD to process different biomolecules and biological entities, like proteins, bacteria cells, hyaluronic acid, and therapeutic drugs, aiming at using such biomaterials in numerous applications ranging from biosensors to orthopedic implants, tissue scaffolds, and drug delivery devices.

Alternating current (AC) electrophoretic deposition (EPD) was used to produce multifunctional composite coatings combining bioactive glass (BG) particles and chitosan. BG particles of two different sizes were used, i.e., 2 μm and 20–80 nm in average diameter. The parameter optimization and characterization of the coatings was conducted by visual inspection and by adhesion strength tests. The optimized coatings were investigated in terms of their hydroxyapatite (HA) forming ability in simulated body fluid (SBF) for up to 21 days. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy results showed the successful HA formation on the coatings after 21 days. The first investigations were conducted on planar stainless steel sheets. In addition, scaffolds made from a TiAl4V6 alloy were considered to show the feasibility of coating of three dimensional structures by EPD. Because both BG and chitosan are antibacterial materials, the antibacterial properties of the as-produced coatings were investigated using E. coli bacteria cells. It was shown that the BG particle size has a strong influence on the antibacterial properties of the coatings.