NOVEL HIGH SURFACE AREA INTERLOCKING COMPOSITE FILMS

A NEED EXISTS TO DEVELOP ROBUST, ADHESIVE INSULATING COATINGS FOR BIOMEDICAL HARDWARE IMPLANTED IN VIVO. ALTHOUGH MANY ORGANIC POLYMERS HAVE BEEN FOUND TO BE BIO- COMPATIBLE, LONG-TERM ADHESION TO METAL SUBSTRATES HAS YET TO BE ACHIEVED. RESEARCHERS WILL PREPARE NOVEL COMPOSITE FILMS THAT INTERLOCK WITH EACH OTHER AS WELL AS WITH AN ETCHED METAL SUBSTRATE, AND HIGH SURFACE AREA PRIMER COAT- INGS WILL BE ELECTROCHEMICALLY GENERATED ON PT SUBSTRATES. SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY AND ELECTROCHEMICAL TECHNIQUES WILL ASSESS THE SURFACE MORPHOLOGY AND COHERENCE. THESE HIGH SURFACE AREA PRIMER COATINGS WILL THEN BE INTERLOCKED WITH PARALENE AND TESTED FOR ADHESIVITY. THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THIS WORK IS TO PROVIDE THE BIOMEDICAL COMMUNITY WITH SUPERIOR INSULATING COMPOSITE COATINGS FOR IMPLANTABLE HARDWARE.