Mechanical and thermal behaviour of an acrylic bone cement modified with a triblock copolymer

Abstract

The basic formulation of an acrylic bone cement has been modified by the addition of a block copolymer, Nanostrength(®) (NS), in order to augment the mechanical properties and particularly the fracture toughness of the bone cement. Two grades of NS at different levels of loading, between 1 and 10 wt.%, have been used. Mechanical tests were conducted to study the behaviour of the modified cements; specific tests measured the bend, compression and fracture toughness properties. The failure mode of the fracture test specimens was analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of NS addition on the thermal properties was also determined, and the polymerisation reaction using differential scanning calorimetry. It was observed that the addition of NS produced an improvement in the fracture toughness and ductility of the cement, which could have a positive contribution by reducing the premature fracture of the cement mantle. The residual monomer content was reduced when the NS was added. However this also produced an increase in the maximum temperature and the heat delivered during the polymerisation of the cement.

Novel Bioactive and Antibacterial Acrylic Bone Cement Nanocomposites Modified with Graphene Oxide and Chitosan

“…Other authors have reported an increase in the amount of residual monomer with the incorporation of GO [20] and CS. Despite the rise, these values are lower than those reported in other studies [20,31] and are similar to those reported by Islas-Blancas et al [32], who affirm that they are within the range observed for commercial cement [33].…”

Influence of Block Copolymer Concentration and Resin Crosslink Density on the Properties of UV‐Curable Methacrylate Resin Systems

“…used commercially available PMMA‐PBuA block copolymers ( Nanostrength M52 from Arkema) in PMMA. [ 27 ] However, no significant toughness enhancing effect was observed, most likely due to unsuccessful microphase separation in the acrylate resin system. Also for peroxide‐cured, unsaturated polyesters, modifications with commercially available poly(ethylene oxide)/poly(propylene oxide) PEO‐PPO‐PEO block copolymers ( Pluronics from BASF) were accompanied by only a rather small increase in fracture toughness but a sharp drop in modulus.…”

“…[24] The poly(ethylene oxide)-b-(butylene oxide) (PEO-PBO) diblock copolymer, commonly known as Fortegra 100 from Olin Corporation, [25] is particularly efficient. Other examples include Arkema's Nanostrength series based on poly(methyl methacrylate)-poly(butyl acrylate) (PMMA/PBuA) blocks [26,27] or BCPs based on polycaprolactone-polydimethylsiloxane (PCL-PDMS). [28] In epoxy resins, an increase of the work of fracture of up to 20 times in comparison to unmodified resin was mentioned.…”

A review of calcium phosphate cements and acrylic bone cements as injectable materials for bone repair and implant fixation

“…192 Moreover, the incorporation of a commercial block copolymer, Nanostrength ® (NS), into the liquid phase of the PMMA bone cement has been shown to improve the fracture toughness of the cement. 194 Table 4 lists some other alternative PMMA cement formulations and briefly summarizes key findings of the cited studies.…”