Hydrophilic Modification Strategies to Enhance the Surface Biocompatibility of Poly(dimethylsiloxane)‐Based Biomaterials for Medical Applications

Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) has been widely employed in biomedical disciplines due to its several advantages, including biocompatibility, nontoxicity, and low‐cost preparation. However, the intrinsic hydrophobicity of this material encourages biofouling and reduces cell regulation capacity, thereby limiting its biomedical applicability. The purpose of this study is to explore the surface modification and functionalization of PDMS and PDMS‐based biomaterials to improve their properties for biomedical applications. The content of this review is organized based on physical and chemical surface modification strategies to improve surface hydrophilicity to enhance antibiofouling and the regulation of immunomodulation and cell modulation on the surface of PDMS and PDMS‐based biomaterials. Future developments in this area are also discussed. Poly(dimethylsiloxane)‐based medical materials are being used extensively in biomedical applications and various biomimetic strategies are developed for meeting various complex functional needs. Herein, the limitations of PDMS‐based medical materials and the currently used approaches for surface hydrophilic modification and functionalization to overcome them are reviewed. Advanced biomimetic devices with multibiocompatible functional properties are a future research trend.