PROTEIN-SILICONE INTERACTIONS - HOW COMPATIBLE ARE THE 2 SPECIES

Protein-on-silicone and silicone-on-protein films mere made by the seq uential coating of the human serum albumin (HSA) onto silicone films o n glass or vice versa. The silicones used were either trimethylsilyl-t erminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) (unfunctionalized PDMS) or (triethoxy silyl)propyl-terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) (functionalized TES-PDM S). Angular-dependent X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AD-XPS) and co ntact angle measurements (CA) were used to characterize the modified s urfaces. Irrespective of the order of building the films, protein-on-s ilicone or silicone-on-protein both showed essentially identical surfa ce compositions, suggesting a significant degree of mixing between the protein and silicone. The TES-PDMS was found to have a greater affini ty for HSA: thicker and more homogeneous silicone films were found wit h TES-PDMS/HSA than with PDMS/HSA films.