Highly antibacterial UHMWPE surfaces by pulsed laser ablation of titanium targets

In the years of severe human pathogens spreading, antibacterial surfaces of good quality and effective action are constantly needed. Titanium dioxide is a successful photocatalyst material under exposition to UV radiation [1] and it is known to have an excellent antibacterial effect [2]. Moreover, to overcome the necessity of UV light, a number of studies [3,4] proposed its doping with non-metals (mainly N and C) and have shown to induce TiO
₂
photocatalysis and bactericidal effect also in presence of visible light [5].