Investigation of Roughness, Morphology, and Wettability Characteristics of Biopolymer Composite Coating on SS 316L for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

This project aims to create a 316L stainless steel coated with a biocomposite based on chitosan for use in the biomedical industry. To completely coat the material, the dip-coating technique was used to apply plain chitosan, chitosan nanosilver, chitosan biotin, and chitosan-nanosilver-biotin in that order. This coating’s surface morphology was investigated with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Surface roughness, average size distribution, and 2D and 3D surface tomography were all investigated using scanning probe microscopy and atomic force microscopy (SPM and AFM). The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy technique was used to quantify changes in functional groups. To evaluate the coated samples’ wettability, contact angle measurements were also performed. The chitosan (CS) + nanosilver, CS + biotin, and CS + biotin + nanosilver-coated 316L stainless steel showed roughness values of about 8.68, 4.21, and 3.3 nm, respectively, compared with the neat chitosan coating, which exhibits 12 nm roughness, indicating a strong effect of biotin and nanosilver on surface topography whereas the coating layers were homogenous, measuring around 33 nm in thickness. For CS + nanosilver and CS + biotin, the average size of agglomerates was approximately 444 nm and 355 nm, respectively. The coatings showed adequate wettability for biomedical applications, were homogeneous, and had no cracks. Their contact angles were around 51–75 degrees. All of these results point to the composite coating’s intriguing potential for use in biological applications.