Title: conditioning film
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - conditioning film
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.13955
Status: current

Definition
Film that is rapidly formed on the surface of a solid in contact with a biological system (in the widest sense) that conditions the surface for subsequent interaction with constituents of the biological system.

Notes
1) Frequently, the conditioning film consists of proteins that prepare almost any surface for subsequent colonization by microorganisms or cells.
2) Not to be confused with conditioning film in packaging.
3) The term can be applied to the surface of any material that is in contact with blood or body fluids because the very first event is coverage by more or less denaturized adhering proteins.
4) Not to be confused with biofilm, which implies the presence of cells or microorganisms.

Related Term
- biofilm: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13879

Source
- PAC, 2012, 84, 377. 'Terminology for biorelated polymers and applications (IUPAC Recommendations 2012)' on page 404 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-10-12-04)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13955/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13955/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/13955/xml

Citation: Citation: 'conditioning film' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.13955
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
Collection: If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .
Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-06-04T20:39:43+00:00