Bioadhesion of polymers for BioMEMS

Polymers are gaining significant importance in biomedical microelectromechanical systems (bioMEMS) owing to their advantages in microfabrication techniques over conventional silicon-based components and promising biocompatibility. Bioadhesion is a major issue in the reliability and performance of bioMEMS. In this study, the bioadhesion of two surface-modified polymers, poly(methylmethacrylate) and poly(dimethylsiloxane), were studied. The surfaces were modified by coating them with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane. Contact angle measurements were made to understand the effect of surface modification. Adhesion of these SAM-modified surfaces were measured with fetal bovine serum dip-coated silicon-nitride atomic force microscope tip in phosphate-buffered saline. The SAM-modified surfaces exhibited lower bioadhesion compared with virgin surfaces.