Study on the Microstructure of Polyether Ether Ketone Films Irradiated with 170 keV Protons by Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray Scattering (GISAXS) Technology

Abstract

Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) films irradiated with 170 keV protons were calculated by the stopping and ranges of ions in matter (SRIM) software. The results showed that the damage caused by 170 keV protons was only several microns of the PEEK surface, and the ionization absorbed dose and displacement absorbed dose were calculated. The surface morphology and roughness of PEEK after proton irradiation were studied by atomic force microscope (AFM). GISAXS was used to analyze the surface structural information of the pristine and irradiated PEEK. The experimental results showed that near the surface of the pristine and irradiated PEEK exists a peak, and the peak gradually disappeared with the increasing of the angles of incidence and the peak changed after irradiation, which implies the 170 keV protons have an effect on PEEK structure. The influences of PEEK irradiated with protons on the melting temperature and crystallization temperature was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The DSC results showed that the crystallinity of the polymer after irradiation decreased. The structure and content of free radicals of pristine and irradiated PEEK were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The stress and strain test results showed that the yield strength of the PEEK irradiated with 5 × 1015 p/cm2 and 1 × 1016 p/cm2 was higher than the pristine, but the elongation at break of the PEEK irradiated with 5 × 1015 p/cm2 and 1 × 1016 p/cm2 decreased obviously.

Effects of Electron Beam Irradiation on Mechanical and Tribological Properties of PEEK

“…From Figure 7 it can be clearly seen that the melting peak of the pristine PEEK was about 338 °C, while the melting temperature of the irradiated samples except PEEK-7 shifted to a higher temperature range. The thermal stability of the irradiated samples increased during crosslinking due to the stiffening of the polymers [ 26 ]. Figure 8 d shows the maximum weight loss temperature of PEEK samples during the heat flow process.…”

“…In an electron beam exposed to radiation with a high voltage of 1.5 MeV and a high absorbed dosage of 1000 Mrad, radiation damage to the PEEK matrix was observed [ 25 ]. The effect of irradiation with 170 keV protons on the melting and crystallization temperatures of PEEK was studied by differential scanning calorimetry [ 26 ]. The results of DSC showed that the crystallinity of the polymer after irradiation decreases from 17% to 13%.…”

Surface grafting of Poly (ether ether ketone) on silica particles as novel filler for dental composites: Physico-chemical characterization

“…Subsequently, PEEK has been widely used for medical and tissue engineering applications. 26,27 The aromatic backbone structure is responsible for mechanical strength and the pendant ketone group increases the spacing between the molecules, and the ether bond makes the main chain flexible 28 Recently PEEK coatings have demonstrated favorable properties such as reduce stress shielding and can be considered as candidates to improve the performance of existing coatings on biomedical substrates. 29,30 Díez-Pascual reported successful grafting of Carboxylated- PEEK to Zinc Oxide nanoparticles, and hydroxylated- PEEK to the surface of carbon nanotubes to improve the overall performance of the nanocomposites.…”