Evaluation of silk fibroin electrogel coating for zirconia material surface

Zirconia is commonly used in dental applications. It has been reported that surface-modified zirconia implants showed better performance in vivo than machined zirconia implants. Silk fibroin electrogel is a good candidate for controlled drug delivery; however, the use of silk fibroin electrogel on zirconia implants has not previously been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate a method to coat zirconia implants with silk fibroin electrogel and evaluate the mechanical and biological properties of the coating. The results show that the wettability of the coating was close to that of sand-blasted and acid-etched (SLA)-treated zirconia, and the bond strength was larger than that of the coating prepared from silk fibroin aqueous solution. ATR-FTIR spectra provided evidence that the secondary structure changed during the electrogelation process. Culturing cells on the coating revealed its nontoxicity to osteoblast-like cells. Thus, it can be suggested that a silk fibroin electrogel coating is a promising biocompatible and degradable drug-delivery material for zirconia implants.