Fabrication of antibacterial and anti-corrosive zirconia ceramics with extreme wettability by facile laser-based surface modification

The relatively poor antibacterial capability of intrinsic hydrophilic zirconia ceramics limits its wide applications in the field of biological implants. To further exploit and enhance the biocompatibility of zirconia ceramics, a facile silicone oil-assisted laser-heat process was developed to prepare the superhydrophobic zirconia ceramic surface with microcolumn array structure and low surface energy. The characterization results indicated that the micro/nano hierarchical structure was induced by laser texturing on the zirconia ceramic surface, and part of the crystal structure was transformed from tetragonal phase to monoclinic phase. The deposition of carbon-containing hydrophobic functional groups and silicon atoms on the surface was accelerated and the surface energy was significantly reduced by silicone oil-assisted heat treatment. The surface wettability was transitioned from hydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity after the silicone oil-assisted laser-heat process. The bacterial adhesion can be effectively blocked due to the air layer trapped by the surface micro/nanostructures, and the surface antibacterial rate was increased by more than 80%. The ionic corrosion was also slowed down under the combination of the air layer and the reduced solid-liquid contact area on the superhydrophobic surface, which improved the corrosion resistance of the surface. The enhanced antibacterial capability and corrosion resistance on the superhydrophobic zirconia ceramic surfaces prepared by the developed process are expected to provide a key avenue for biomedical applications.