Abstract
A nanosized coating was designed to reduce fouling on the surface of a new type of cochlear implant relying on optoacoustic stimulation. This kind of device imposes novel design principles for antifouling coatings, such as optical transparency and resistance to significant constant bending. To reach this goal we deposited on poly(dimethylsiloxane) a PEO‐based layer with negligible thickness compared to the curvature radius of the cochlea. Its antifouling performance was monitored upon storage by quartz crystal microbalance, and its resistance upon bending was tested by fluorescence microscopy under geometrical constraints similar to those of implantation. The coating displayed excellent antifouling features and good stability, and proved suitable for further testing in real‐environment conditions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1100-1108 |
| Journal | ChemistryOpen |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 6 Aug 2019 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Funding
The authors would like to acknowledge financial support from the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme (ACTION project, grant agreement no. 611230) and all the partners involved in the ACTION project, particularly Dr. Rony Jose James and Dr. Mark Fretz (CSEM, Neuchâtel, Switzerland) for supplying the PDMS substrates and Dr. A. Rettenmaier (Hannover Medical School, Germany) for fruitful discussions. R. Mi. and Y. L. also gratefully acknowledge the Academy of Finland for funding (project SelfSmart, decision no. 276537 and 284508).
Keywords
- antifouling coatings
- implantable devices
- interfaces
- silanes
- surface chemistry
- thin films