Surface Modification: Approaches and Utilities

Surface modification is the modification of the surface (either of carrier, drug or targeting moiety) by which solubility, opsonization, adhesion, longer circulation, and bioconjugation of an object can be achieved. Techniques which modify surface properties of carriers, drugs, ligands, excipients, coating materials, etc. by introducing random, non-specific groups or selected, specific groups can be used to alter the surface properties of the object. Through this review, a small attempt is made to understand the surface modification techniques. In this review, several methods (surface modification by solid dispersion technique, surfactants, polaxamer and polaxamine coating, PEG (polyethylene glycol), Vitamin E, Dextran derivatives, Chitosan coating, chemicals, gas and through layer by layer techniques) are discussed for surface modification. A concise review was done to explore the availability of techniques and agents available to introduce a specific group into the object.