Wettability biomedical materials,

Apart from modifications in the bulk, also surface modification of PHAs has been reported. Poly(3HB-co-3HV) film surfaces have been subjected to plasma treatments, using various (mixtures of) gases, water or allyl alcohol [112-114]. Compared to the non-treated polymer samples, the wettability of the surface modified poly(3HB-co-3HV) was increased significantly [112-114]. This yielded a material with improved biocompatibility, which is imperative in the development of biomedical devices. 

The modification of polymers and fibrous surfaces to alter the porosity, wettability and other characteristics of polymeric substrates, will enable the prodnction of implants and biomedical devices which exhibit greater resistance to microbial adhesion and biofilm formation. A nnmber of polymers have been developed that can be incorporated into cellulose and other materials, which will provide significant advances in many fields snch as food packaging, textiles, wound dressings, coating of catheter tnbes and sterile surfaces. 

Block copolymer coatings for tuning the interfacial properties of PDMS surfaces also play an important role in biomaterials science because PDMS surfaces are often employed in biomedical devices [126]. Iwasaki et al. reported the functionalization of pretreated PDMS films with well-defined triblock copolymers by spin coating [127]. The polymers were prepared using RAFT polymerization. Hydrophobic PDMS-based polymers were copolymerized with 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phospho-rylcholine (MPC). The polymeric coating material was spin-coated on thin PDMS films and chemically immobilized via hydrosilylation. The block copolymers were very effective in reducing the surface friction coefficient and improving wettability. 

In this chapter, we have reviewed some recent progress on the developments of photonic sensitive materials and their apphcations, including photoinduced surface wettability switches and smart-gating nanochannels (Wen et al., 2010 Wen, Liu, et al., 2012 Zhang et al., 2012). We also listed different photonic biomaterials used in opto-bioelectronic devices, biocatalysts, biosensors, and the biomedical engineering field. 

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