Chemical patterning in biointerface science

Patterning of surfaces with different chemistries provides novel insights into how proteins, cells and tissues interact with materials. New materials, and the properties that their surfaces impart, are highly desirable for the next generation of implants, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering devices, and biosensors and drug delivery devices for disease diagnosis and treatment. Patterning is thus seen as a key technology driver for these materials. We provide an overview of state-of-the-art fabrication tools for creating chemical patterns over length scales ranging from millimeters to micrometers to nanometers. The importance of highly sensitive surface analytical tools in the development of new chemically patterned surfaces is highlighted.