A new antibacterial strategy for Ti has been developed without the use of any external antibacterial agents and surface treatments. By combining Mg alloys with Ti, H 2 o 2 , which is an oxidizing agent that kills bacteria, was spontaneously generated near the surface of Ti. Importantly, the H 2 o 2 formation kinetics can be precisely controlled by tailoring the degradation rates of Mg alloys connected to Ti. Through microstructural and electrochemical modification of Mg with alloying elements (Ca, Zn), the degradation rates of Mg alloys were controlled, and the H 2 o 2 release kinetics was accelerated when the degradation rate of Mg alloys increased. With the introduction of an in vivo assessment platform comprised of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and transgenic zebrafish embryos, we are able to design optimized antibacterial systems (Ti-Mg and Ti-Mg-3wt% Zn) that can selectively eradicate E. coli while not harming the survival rate, development, and biological functions of zebrafish embryos. We envision that our antibacterial strategy based on utilization of sacrificial Mg alloys could broaden the current palette of antibacterial platforms for metals. the solution gradually increased over time, reaching 33 μM after 2 h of reaction. In the case of the Ti-Mg-3wt%Ca system, the H 2 O 2 -releasing kinetics were significantly accelerated and a solution of approximately 60 μM H 2 O 2 was formed at the same reaction time. In contrast, adopting the Mg-3wt% Zn alloy in the system reduced the formation rate of H 2 O 2 , and only 23 μM H 2 O 2 was generated after 2 h of reaction. It should be noted that the H 2 O 2 release rate increased in the series of Ti-Mg-3wt% Zn < Ti-Mg < Ti-Mg-3wt%Ca and that this trend was identical to that of the degradation rate of Mg alloys ( Figs. 3f and 4a).Along with the fluorometric H 2 O 2 assay results, cyclic voltammetry (CV) analyses further proved the difference in H 2 O 2 -releasing behavior depending on the type of Mg alloy connected to Ti. The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) current, which is related to the amount of H 2 O 2 generated near Ti 36,37 , increased in the series of Ti-Mg-3wt% Zn < Ti-Mg < Ti-Mg-3wt%Ca, which led to the same conclusion (Fig. 4b). Specifically, for the Ti-Mg-3wt%Ca system, the ORR current at the applied voltage of −0.2 vs. Ag/AgCl was −1.3 mA/cm 2 , which was approximately 4.3 and 1.5 times higher than that of the Ti-Mg-3wt% Zn and Ti-Mg systems, respectively. The controllable H 2 O 2 -releasing kinetics of the Ti-Mg alloy system through degradation engineering of Mg alloys indicated its high feasibility with regard to selective bacterial remediation.
Scientific RepoRtS |(2020) 10:6536 | https://doi.www.nature.com/scientificreports www.nature.com/scientificreports/ zebrafish embryos. ZEISS Stemi 2000, LEICA MZFLIII, ZEISS Imager Z1 and ZEISS axioskop, LEICA S6D, LEICA DMI6000B were used to examine zebrafish embryos at approximately 72 and 96 hpf. The assay was replicated three times.
Examination of zebrafish heart functionality.For the control group, the heart...