Dr.-Ing. Carsten Becker-Willinger

Introduction: produced by renewable resources, biodegradable polymers with their competitive mechanical properties, thermal stability and biocompatibility are important alternatives to other synthetic materials for use in medical devices, i.e. endotracheal suction catheters. However, infected catheters may lead to nosocomial infections, such as lower respiratory tract infections, with mechanical ventilation being a major risk for these. Antimicrobially coated endotracheal suction catheters may be one measure to reduce this risk. Methods: two procedures using ethanol and sodium hydroxide were tested to immobilize poly(hexamethylene biguanide) (PHMB) to polylactide-ε-caprolactone (PLA-ε-CL). The cytocompatibility of the coating was verified via the MTT assay and cytokine analysis in a cell monolayer and in a 3D mucosa model. The antimicrobial efficacy was tested using S. epidermidis; after this bacterial contamination and the adherence and viability of cells were tested. Chemical surface analysis has been performed with pristine and PHMB-coated specimens by means of infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). Results: with both applied coating procedures, PHMB could be immobilized onto the PLA-ε-CL surface. The biocompatibility of PLA-ε-CL was not impaired by the PHMB coating. IL-1α was slightly but significantly increased. Reduction of S. epidermidis was about 4 lg-levels after 6 h of incubation. Contamination of the surface prior to cell culture did not impair the adherence of the cells. Conclusion: we demonstrated that PLA-ε-CL coated with PHMB has good biocompatible properties with antimicrobial activity thus revealing the polymer to be a suitable material for the development of medical devices that are able to prevent bacterial contaminations and infections.

Zinc phosphate particles are used in coatings that protect steel from corrosion. The corrosion of coated steel was examined at the microscopic scale in proximity of zinc phosphate flakes. The coatings were prepared by dispersing the zinc phosphate flakes in epoxy-phenolic resin matrix, spray coating on the steel substrate, and curing. Such prepared coatings were then scratched, and corroded in the artificial weathering conditions by means of a condensate climate test. The ongoing corrosion process was examined using environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). By applying this approach, we observed the influence of the anisotropic particles of zinc phosphate on the formation of corrosion products. Local areas at the edge of the scratch that were in direct contact with the zinc phosphate aggregates, revealed the formation of a different crystal type compared to the plain areas of the scratch. The obtained data indicates that a partial dissolution of the zinc phosphate particles took place, and suggests that the influence of zinc phosphate on the formation of corrosion products was mediated by the presence of water.

Platelets as fillers in polymer coatings contribute to corrosion resistance by increasing the diffusion path of gases. The authors demonstrate that the same platelets can improve tribological properties and, thus, open a new way to design multifunctional polymer coatings. Improved corrosion resistance, low friction, and low wear are reported for polyimide composite coatings filled with a combination of boron nitride, pigment platelets, perfluoropolyether, and Si3N4 particles. Contributions of different fillers to the tribological performance are explored for coatings with different filling protocols. The synergy of four components leads to the excellent tribological performance of the fully formulated coatings, while they cannot impart significant improvement in friction and wear when used separately.

In the present work the influence of nano-scaled zirconia particles with different structures on the structural and electrical properties of polyurethane (PU) insulating coatings was investigated. PU matrix insulating coatings containing non-doped and 4 mole % yttrium doped nano-scaled zirconia with average particle size between 12 and 13 nm were prepared by wet chemical methods. High resolution transmission electron microscopy analysis of thermally cured composites showed that the nano dispersed zirconia particles were uniformly distributed within matrix. Incorporation of 5 vol. % nanoparticles into the PU matrix resulted in a slight increase of the micro hardness and elastic modulus. The effect of zirconia filling (non-doped and doped) on the electrical breakdown strength was not observed. But, a strong influence of the nanoparticle addition on the partial discharge stability was detected. Partial discharge breakdown time for non-filled PU matrix was 2.5 h, for PU filled with non-doped zirconia 65 h and for PU filled with yttrium doped zirconia >; 100 h, respectively. The additional benefit of doped zirconia may be explained by its different electronic structure and polarisation behaviour.

This paper provides a selective description of the development of nanostructured materials and the fabrication of the devices for optical applications. Examples are interference coatings, refractive and diffractive lenses, and macro- and micro-GRIN (graded refractive index) optical elements. Hybrid materials containing nanoparticles are of particular interest for the production of optical elements because, by exploiting the intrinsic solid state properties of the nanoparticles, nanocomposites can be tailored to exhibit the desired properties. A particular advantage of wet chemical processing lies in its great flexibility for depositing functional coatings.

A new class of materials for ultrasonic matching layers is presented. The materials consist of nanoscale cerium oxide particles in an epoxy functionalized organic inorganic hybrid polymer matrix. The cerium oxide agglomerates to particles with 20 nm diameters. The content of particles in the polymer matrix could be increased to 75 wt.% which corresponds to 37 vol.%. The most technical important piezoelectrical ceramics have an acoustic impedance of about 30 MRayl, to improve coupling into water or biological tissue with an acoustic impedance of about 1.5 MRayl a matching layer should have an acoustic impedance of about 6.8 MRayl. With a filling degree of 75 wt.% the new composite material reaches an acoustic impedance of 7 MRayl. The materials are synthesized by a hydrolytic condensation combined with polymerization. This way of synthesis allows the use of organic solvents to adjust the viscosity of the sol and the application of different coating techniques. Ultrasound transducers (100 MHz) were built to test the new matching layers and an increase of the voltage signal amplitude of about 100% could be detected.

Caries and periodontitis, the most wide-spread oral diseases around the world, are caused by bacterial adherence and biofilm formation onto the natural as well as restored tooth surface. One possible way to prevent the pathogenic consequences of intraoral biofilm formation might be the modification of the tooth surface by application of an anti-adhesive coating that interferes with the bacterial attachment and subsequent bacterial accumulation. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of an experimental, low surface free energy nano-composite coating material on biofilm formation in situ. For this purpose, an organic/inorganic nano-composite coating (NANOMER (R), INM, Saarbrucken, Germany) with a surface free energy of 18-20 mJ/m2 was applied to enamel as well as titanium specimens. The nano-composite coated specimens and un-coated controls were attached to removable intraoral splints and carried by volunteers over 24 h in the oral cavity. After intraoral exposure, specimens were processed for transmission electron microscopic analysis. On non-coated enamel and titanium control samples a multi-layer of adherent bacteria was found. In contrast, on nano-composite coated specimens strongly reduced biofilm formation was observed. In most areas of the surface-coated specimens only a 10-20 nm thick electron dense layer of adsorbed salivary proteins with adherent protein agglomerates of 20-80 nm diameter could be detected. In addition, detachment of the adsorbed biofilm from the nano-composite coated surfaces was evident in electron microscopic micrographs. The present investigation provides ultrastructural evidence that it is possible to cover enamel as well as titanium with a nano-composite coating revealing easy-to-clean surface properties that cause reduced biofilm formation and accelerated removal of adherent biofilms under oral conditions.

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), small angle X-ray (SAXS) and dynamical mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) were used to characterize the morphology and thermo-mechanical properties of hybrid organic inorganic materials. These materials were based on polyimide (PI) and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS). Polyimide polymer is prepared from 4,4'-oxydianiline (ODA) 2,2-Bis(3-amino-4-hydroxyphenyl) hexafluoro-propane (6F-OHDA) pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) polyamic polymer. In one family of hybrid materials 3-isocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane (ICTS) is used as coupling agent in order to enhance the interfacial interaction between polyimide and silica. It was possible to modulate the morphology as well as the optical and thermo-mechanical properties of these hybrid materials depending on the formulation used. TEM and SAXS analysis indicated that silica domains on the nanoscale level are obtained when coupling agent is used in the formulation. Additionally the TEM and SAXS analysis indicated that miscibility of the organic and the inorganic phases on the molecular scale is obtained in the hybrid films when ICTS as coupling agent is added to the polyamic acid. These techniques show a fractal structure of the hybrid materials with coupling agent. This was confirmed with DMTA analysis which shows very high temperature relaxation (more than 450 °C). From this result it could be derived that the addition of ICTS causes a morphological transformation from discrete particulate microstructure to fine interpenetrated or co-continuous phases. The intimate miscibility of the phases is accompanied at the same time by the amelioration of thermo-mechanical properties of the hybrid films.