Physico-chemical tailoring of material surface properties

Biomaterials' applications and performances are strongly related to their surface properties, such as surface chemistry, surface energy, roughness, surface charge, topography, hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity. In this chapter, the fundamental aspects of some of these properties - in particular wetting, adhesion, roughness and topography - will be elucidated. The relation between such surface features and the biocompatibility issues will also be discussed briefly. The three main classes of biomaterials - polymers, metals and ceramics - will be separately analyzed, listing a series of examples of the most commonly employed surface modifying techniques for that class.