Adsorption of Candida albicans on Ti-6Al-4V surface and its corrosion effects in artificial saliva

Abstract

In this study, the corrosion behavior and mechanism of Ti-6Al-4V in artificial saliva with Candida albicans were investigated using electrochemical and surface analysis techniques. Fluorescence microscopy (FM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) showed that C. albicans could easily adsorb on the surface of Ti-6Al-4V alloy to form non-dense biofilm. The non-compact biofilm provided necessary conditions for pitting corrosion on Ti-6Al-4V alloys by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation. The potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) revealed that C. albicans significantly reduced the corrosion resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloys. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) results indicated that C. albicans biofilm promoted electron transfer from the anodic sites to cathodic depolarizer during the corrosion process, showing that the role of oral fungi must be considered when evaluating the performance of oral materials. This study may provide a new clue for evaluating the corrosion resistance of dental implant materials in the oral environment.

Keywords: Biofilm; Candida albicans; Dental material; Hyphae; Pitting corrosion.