Surface Modification of Biomaterials and Biomedical Devices

Dear Colleagues,

Biomaterials and biomedical devices made with them are engineered to meet different medical needs, such as treatment, augmentation, repair or replacement of damaged tissue, etc. Although the bulk properties of a material are crucial for certain applications, the physicochemical properties of the material surface are also extremely important for biomedical applications since the surface is in the direct contact with biological systems. Thus, the surface modification of biomaterials is often necessary to obtain adequate physicochemical and structural properties which further improve their biocompatibility, by a promoting favorable cellular response at the biomaterial/tissue interface.

Surface modification methods can be divided into physical, which modify surface topography or morphology (etching, grit-blasting, and machining); and chemical, which result in oxidizing/nitriding/carbiding a surface, surface functionalization, ion implantation, and the laying of single- or multi-layer coatings (plasma and chemical vapor deposition, dip coating, electro-chemical deposition, etc.).

Surface modification primarily depends on the type of biomaterial and its application site. More than 70% of implant devices are made of metallic biomaterials (orthopedic and dental implants, cardiovascular stents, orthodontic wires, etc.), which suffer from wear and corrosion. These drawbacks can be solved by surface modification that assumes the deposition of coatings capable of retaining implants’ excellent bulk properties (e.g., modulus of elasticity and mechanical strength) and enhance the necessary surface properties (e.g., biocompatibility, wear and corrosion resistance, antibacterial properties, and osteoinductive properties) for applications in orthopedics. The surface modification of ceramic biomaterials is mostly needed when they are applied as drug delivery devices; in order to prevent burst drug release, polymeric coatings are deposited over ceramic carriers. Polymeric biomaterials are mostly used for bone and cartilage repair, but the surface characteristics limit their biomedical applications, and surface modification is used to induce nano- and microtopography, variation in chemical composition and crystallography.

Overall, surface modification has significantly improved biomaterials’ clinical performance, and it is unavoidable in the development and manufacturing of new biomaterials and biomedical devices.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

• Surface modification of metallic biomaterials;
• Surface modification of ceramic biomaterials;
• Surface modification of polymeric biomaterials;
• Surface modification techniques;
• Bioactive coatings;
• Biomimetic coatings.

Dr. Božana Petrović
Dr. Djordje Antonijević
Prof. Dr. Vukoman Jokanovic
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Coatings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• surface modification
• biomaterials
• biomedical devices
• coatings
• biocompatibility