A novel MgZnP2O7 coating grown on the high-purity Mg for corrosion mitigation, cytocompatibility and antibacterial abilities

• A novel coating is successfully deposited on pure Mg for guided bone regeneration. • The MgZnP 2 O 7 combines cytocompatibility, anti-corrosion with anti-bacterial activity. • Its adhesion and anti-corrosion/bacteria are superior to those of hydroxyapatite. • It is because of its higher electron localization function and unique Zn 2+ release. • It is thus expected to replace popular hydroxyapatite as an oral barrier membrane. Hydroxyapatite (HA)-coated magnesium (Mg) membrane is considered as a promising material for guided bone regeneration (GBR). Although it possesses good corrosion resistance and cytocompatibility, the poor antibacterial activity still limits its clinical application. To address this issue, we hydrothermally synthesized a novel magnesium zinc diphosphate (MZD) coating on the high-purity Mg, which combines the abovementioned three functions. The MZD coating with well-defined structure and composition significantly improves the corrosion resistance of Mg to simulated body fluid, which is about one order of magnitude higher than that of currently popular HA coating. In the meantime, its cytocompatibility is compared to that of HA coating towards the rat bone mesenchymal stem cells. More strikingly, its sterilization rate for the Streptococcus mutans also amazingly achieves ∼74.8 %, which is far superior to ∼1.2 % of HA coating, owing to the release of zinc ions, along with stronger adhesion. The MZD coating combines the biocompatible, anti-corrosive and antibacterial performances, providing an ideal substitute for the HA coating grown on the Mg as the GBR membrane, and thus shows a broad application prospect in oral implantology.