Abstract
X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) has been evaluated as a technique for the investigation of the interface between synthetic biomaterials and the physiological environment, with a view to assisting the development of superior materials for implant surgery. In the adaptation of the XPS technique for the study of the acrylic copolymers used in this work a novel algorithm has been derived which models the effects of a concentration gradient in the sample surface. XPS has been compared with radiolabelling techniques for the estimation of proteins adsorbed to surfaces, and has indicated that the latter technique may cause a change in the protein adsorption behaviour. Finally, XPS has been used in conjunction with zeta potential and contact angle measurement to elucidate the ion exchange mechanisms taking place in the surfaces of the acrylic copolymers when immersed in simulated physiological saline. A mechanism has been proposed on the basis of these studies to explain some of the unusual characteristics of protein adsorption to surfaces, which is widely thought to be a determining factor in the physiological response to the surface of a biomaterial.