Figure 4

Antibacterial rates of the coatings as well as Ti after immersion in PBS for 1, 14 and 28 days against (A) E. coli and (B) S. aureus; Fluorescence images of adhered (C) E. coli and (D) S. aureus on the coatings as well as Ti after immersed PBS for 28 days, the dead bacteria appear red while the live ones are green. SEM images of (E) E. coli and (F) S. aureus incubated for 12 h on Ti and the coatings after immersed PBS for 28 days, with the corresponding higher magnification images of the circled regions inserted. Data are presented as the means ± SD, n = 4. ***p < 0.001 compared to Ti; ^†††p < 0.001 compared to TiCP; ^§§§p < 0.001 compared to TiCP-F1.