No abstract

This work is aimed at developing the modification of the surface of medical implants with film materials based on noble metals in order to improve their biological characteristics. Gas-phase transportation methods were proposed to obtain such materials. To determine the effect of the material of the bottom layer of heterometallic structures, Ir, Pt, and PtIr coatings with a thickness of 1.4–1.5 μm were deposited by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on Ti6Al4V alloy discs. Two types of antibacterial components, namely, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and discontinuous Ag coatings, were deposited on the surface of these coatings. AuNPs (11–14 nm) were deposited by a pulsed MOCVD method, while Ag films (35–40 nm in thickness) were obtained by physical vapor deposition (PVD). The cytotoxic (24 h and 48 h, toward peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs)) and antibacterial (24 h) properties of monophase (Ag, Ir, Pt, and PtIr) and heterophase (Ag/Pt, Ag/Ir, Ag/PtIr, Au/Pt, Au/Ir, and Au/PtIr) film materials deposited on Ti-alloy samples were studied in vitro and compared with those of uncoated Ti-alloy samples. Studies of the cytokine production by PBMCs in response to incubation of the samples for 24 and 48 h and histological studies at 1 and 3 months after subcutaneous implantation in rats were also performed. Despite the comparable thickness of the fibrous capsule after 3 months, a faster completion of the active phase of encapsulation was observed for the coated implants compared to the Ti alloy analogs. For the Ag-containing samples, growth inhibition of S. epidermidis, S. aureus, Str. pyogenes, P. aeruginosa, and Ent. faecium was observed.

Interest in iridium and platinum has been steadily encouraged due to such unique properties as exceptional chemical inertia and corrosion resistance, high biological compatibility, and mechanical strength, which are the basis for their application in medical practice. Metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) is a promising method to fabricate Ir and Pt nanomaterials, multilayers, and heterostructures. Its advantages include precise control of the material composition and microstructure in deposition processes at relatively low temperatures onto non-planar substrates. The development of MOCVD processes is inextricably linked with the development of the chemistry of volatile precursors, viz., specially designed coordination and organometallic compounds. This review describes the synthesis methods of various iridium and platinum precursors, their thermal properties, and examples of the use of MOCVD, including formation of films for medical application and bimetallics. Although metal acetylacetonates are currently the most widely used precursors, the recently developed heteroligand Ir(I) and Pt(IV) complexes appear to be more promising in both synthetic and thermochemical aspects. Their main advantage is their ability to control thermal properties by modifying several types of ligands, making them tunable to deposit films onto different types of materials and to select a combination of compatible compounds for obtaining the bimetallic materials.