%0 Journal Article %A Seunghwan Lee %D 2013 %J International Journal of Biomedical and Biological Engineering %B World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology %I Open Science Index 75, 2013 %T Characterization of Lubricity of Mucins at Polymeric Surfaces for Biomedical Applications %U https://publications.waset.org/pdf/1731 %V 75 %X The lubricating properties of commercially available mucins originating from different animal organs, namely bovine submaxillary mucin (BSM) and porcine gastric mucin (PGM), have been characterized at polymeric surfaces for biomedical applications. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and pin-on-disk tribometry have been employed for tribological studies at nanoscale and macroscale contacts, respectively. Polystyrene (PS) was employed to represent ‘rigid’ contacts, whereas poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) was employed to represent ‘soft contacts’. To understand the lubricating properties of mucins in correlation with the coverage on surfaces, adsorption properties of mucins onto the polymeric substrates have been characterized by means of optical waveguide light-mode spectroscopy (OWLS). Both mucins showed facile adsorption onto both polymeric substrates, but the lubricity was highly dependent upon the pH change between 2 and 7. %P 145 - 150