Anodic TiO2 nanotube layers electrochemically filled with MoO3 and their antimicrobial properties

In the present work, the authors produce a Ti surface with a TiO2 nanotube coating and investigate the electrochemical filling of these layers with MoO3. The authors demonstrate that using a potential cycling technique, a homogenous MoO3 coating can be generated. Controllable and variable coating thicknesses are achieved by a variation of the number of cycles. Thicknesses from a few nanometers to complete filling of the nanotube layers can be obtained. A thermal treatment is used to convert the as-deposited amorphous MoOx phases into MoO3. These MoO3 loaded nanotube layers were then investigated regarding their antimicrobial properties using strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The authors found that the combination of crystalline MoO3 on TiO2 nanotubes shows excellent antimicrobial properties. (C) 2011 American Vacuum Society. [DOI: 10.1116/1.3566544]