A Review of Functional Coatings in Biomedical Fiber Materials

XING Jiayi; LAI Enping; JIA Wei; GAO Ming; LIU Xiang

doi:10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2025.18.002

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Surface Technology ›› 2025, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (18) : 16-26. DOI: 10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2025.18.002

Research Review

A Review of Functional Coatings in Biomedical Fiber Materials

XING Jiayi¹, LAI Enping², JIA Wei³, GAO Ming^4,*, LIU Xiang^1,*

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Abstract

As an advanced surface modification technology, functional coatings provide strong support for the application of fiber materials in biomedical fields such as antibacterial and protection, monitoring and diagnosis, therapy and rehabilitation. The work aims to systematically review the latest research progress of functional coatings in biomedical fiber materials, conducting in-depth analysis from three aspects of technical principles, functional structures, and multi-scenario applications. In the field of biomedical application, the research of functional coatings focuses on improving the biocompatibility of fiber materials in contact with biological tissues, and strengthening the specific biomedical properties of fiber materials such as repairing biological tissues. The functional coatings of biomedical fiber materials are discussed from four application parts, which mainly contains antibacterial and protection, monitoring and diagnosis, therapy and rehabilitation, and multi-functional integration.
For the antibacterial and protection application, antibacterial compounds such as metal nanoparticles can be coated on the fiber materials to prepare the functional coating, which can improve the microbial inactivation efficiency of medical fiber materials. The functional coating for the monitoring and diagnosis realizes the functions of physiological signal monitoring and biosensing detection by forming fiber materials with conductive and sensing structures. The micro-nano coating with the conductive material can be used to prepare smart fiber materials, facilitating the acquisition and analysis of human physiological signals. In the field of therapy and rehabilitation, fiber materials with functional coatings can play a key role in tissue repair, hemostasis and coagulation by loading bioactive molecules such as drugs and growth factors onto coatings. Moreover, the coatings on fiber materials are also required for the application in artificial organs, because the coatings can improve the biocompatibility of the fiber materials. In addition, fiber materials with multiple functions are more suitable for practical medical applications. For example, the multi-modal fabrics with antibacterial protection and real-time motion monitoring can be developed by multi-dimensional material design and interface engineering.
Although the existing research of the functional coating on fiber materials has made significant progress, there are still some challenges. At present, the types of the coating materials are limited, and the preparation of functional coatings still needs to be controlled accurately. More importantly, the function coatings of the fiber materials for clinical medical applications are required to match well. With the continuous advancement of scientific research and engineering technology, functional coatings in biomedical fiber materials will also be continuously developed. By using natural biodegradable polymers and optimizing the coating process, the functional coatings can be used to construct a bionic structure with improved environmental adaptability. For instance, the biocompatibility and long-term stability of the coatings can be enhanced by biomimetic design and interface engineering. In view of the implant fiber material, the coating in the inner layer of the fiber can promote cell adhesion with anti-immune activity, and the superhydrophobic coatings for anti-adhesion are prepared in the outer layer. In order to further improve the biomedical application of fiber materials, future research should focus on developing intelligent coating materials and multi-functional integration, and continuously improve the biological and environmental adaptability of fiber materials to promote the coordinated development of functional coatings and fiber materials.

Key words

functional coating / fiber materials / biomedical application / smart wearable / bionic design

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XING Jiayi, LAI Enping, JIA Wei, GAO Ming, LIU Xiang. A Review of Functional Coatings in Biomedical Fiber Materials[J]. Surface Technology. 2025, 54(18): 16-26 https://doi.org/10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2025.18.002

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