Cytotoxic and Bacteriostatic Activity of Nanostructured TiO₂ Coatings

Nanostructures are structures, mainly synthetic (nanosurfaces, cylindrical nanotubes, and nanospheres), which range between 1–100 nm in at least one dimension and can be engineered to a wide range of physical properties. This paper aims to explore the bacteriostatic and cytotoxic characteristics of nano-TiO₂ coated specimens of glass, stainless steel and ceramic with different thickness and roughness. The results show that stainless steel and glass specimens with a nano-TiO₂ coating thickness of 200 nm have a bacteriostatic effect of 97% and 100%, respectively after 30 minutes of UV exposure. Glass specimens with a nano-TiO₂ coating thickness of 750, 200 and 50 nm have a bacteriostatic effect of 86%, 93% and 100% after 60 minutes. Nano-TiO₂ coatings show a great bacteriostatic but not a cytotoxic effect, thus representing a valuable alternative for biomedical applications.