Nanofunctional Surfaces in Biology

Nanofunctional Surfaces for Control of the Biological Interface

Biomaterials are defined as nonviable materials used in a medical device or setting intended to interact with biological systems. The key phrase in this definition indicates that biomaterials should be designed to respond to the biological environment. An enormous body of work has been dedicated to controlling the type and extent of the interactions between biomaterials and biology, however, the continuing intense activity in this field indicates that there remain key challenges to be addressed. Some of the most important of these are:

1. Development of highly functional materials to control (augment or prevent) cellular interactions through control of surface chemistry and topography;
2. Improvement of long-term robustness of functional surfaces using durable attachment chemistry;
3. An integrated pathway to adoption of these materials including input from materials scientists, chemists and microbiologists.

It is the aim of this project to tackle all three challenges above, and to demonstrate the pathway from the chemistry laboratory to the clinical setting through a focus on two important applications, namely Ti alloy implants and anti-microbial surfaces.