Surface modification technology for bio-MEMS

We have modified the surfaces of glass and stainless steel with polymers. The purposes of surface modification are for effective protein immobilization and increasing biocompatibility. The surface modified substrates were characterized by contact angle measurement, atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and confocal fluorescence microscopy. Protein adsorption test was performed on the modified surfaces via enzyme-substrate reaction and fluorescence intensity measurement. We observed a drastic decrease of nonspecific adsorption of proteins when the surfaces are modified with hydrophilic polymers.