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A stabilisation of crosslinked ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) with alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) used for endoprostheses can increase its resistance against oxidative degradation remarkably. However, the method used for conventional UHMW-PE of adding alpha-tocopherol to the UHMW-PE powder before processing can not be applied for crosslinked UHMW-PE, since the alpha-tocopherol hinders the crosslinking process, which would be accompanied by a heavy degradation of this vitamin. The alpha-tocopherol has therefore to be added after the crosslinking process. This paper presents two methods for a stabilisation of finished products with alpha-tocopherol. In method 1, UHMW-PE-cubes (20 x 20 x 20 mm3) were stored in pure alpha-tocopherol under inert atmosphere at temperatures from 100 degrees C to 150 degrees C resulting in a high mass fraction of alpha-tocopherol in the edge zones. For further homogenisation, the cubes were stored in inert atmosphere at temperatures from 160 degrees C to 200 degrees C. In method 2, supercritical CO2 was used to incorporate the vitamin into the UHMW-PE. In an autoclave vessel, the cubes were treated with alpha-tocopherol dissolved in supercritical CO2 for several hours at temperatures from 100 degrees C to 170 degrees C. In both cases, the mass fraction of alpha-tocopherol was detected with the help of a FTIR-microscope. Both methods are well suited to stabilise crosslinked UHMW-PE with alpha-tocopherol. A stabilisation of the sensitive edge layer as well as a nearly homogenous distribution with varying alpha-tocopherol content may be realised by varying the process parameters. Using method 2, standard hip cups were stabilized nearly homogeneously with varying mass fraction of alpha-tocopherol. No oxidation of the UHMW-PE could be detected by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and HPLC studies showed a very low degradation of the alpha-tocopherol for both processes.

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