Electrophoretic deposition of chitosan

The electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of chitosan on metallic substrates was investigated. The electrophoretic mobility of the natural biopolymer in aqueous solution as a function of pH was studied. Because the protonation/deporotonation of chitosan is pH-dependent, the electrophoretic mobility and deposition rate is shown to increase with increasing pH from 2.9 to 4.1. The film growth rate is estimated to vary in the range 0.02–0.08 µm/s depending on the pH value. At high growth rates (> 0.05 µm/s), a porous film is obtained due to hydrogen entrapment. The EPD method developed here is applicable for the surface modification of metal implants by chitosan to develop novel bioactive coatings.