Polymer surface engineering

Surfactants have played a major role in polymer surface engineering because their inherent ability to enrich surfaces with specific chemical groups provides a simple method of controlling surface chemistry. Figure I shows four surface engineering strategies that are dependent on the material s inherent surface activity. 

Polymer surface engineering may potentially be used to create materials to control cellular adhesion and maintain differentiated phenotypic expressions, merely by the introduction of nanoparticles within the polymer generating surface modifications that may affect both cell behaviour and the antibacterial character of the material. 

In choosing a SAM system for surface engineering, there are several options. Silane monolayers on hydroxylated surfaces are an option where transparent or nonconductive systems are needed. However, trichlorosilane compounds are moisture-sensitive and polymeri2e in solution. The resulting polymers contaminate the monolayer surface, which occasionally has to be cleaned mechanically. CarboxyUc acids adsorb on metal oxide, eg, AI2O2, AgO through acid—base interactions. These are not specific therefore, it would be impossible to adsorb a carboxyUc acid selectively in the presence of, for example, a terminal phosphonic acid group. In many studies SAMs of thiolates on Au(lll) are the system of choice. 

Mathieu, H.., Chevolot, Y, Ruiz-Taylor, L. and Leonard, D. Engineering and Characterization of Polymer Surfaces for Biomedical Applications. Vol. 162, pp. 1-35. 

Surface engineering by means of fluorination is an effective way to change surface properties, and is used for both polymer surfaces and inorganic substrates. Polymer surface fluorination has been around a long time. The first patent we know of dates back to 1938,1 but it was only in the 1970s that the introduction of several major industrial applications led to a rapid acceleration in development. 

Surface engineering of polymers by infusion. Supercritical-fluid contact can reversibly swell some polymer surfaces and films thus helping to enhance impregnation by monomers with subsequent polymerization to form nanocomposite anchored layers. - ... 

This book will be of interest to graduate students and research workers in departments of physics, chemistry, electrical engineering and materials science studying polymer surfaces and interfaces and their application in polymer-based electronics. 

Lahann, J., Balcells, M., Lu, H., Rodon, T., Jensen, K.F., Langer, R., Reactive polymer coatings A first step toward surface engineering of microfluidic devices. Anal. Chem. 2003, 75, 2117-2122. 

---