Sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone)/hydroxyapatite membrane as biomaterials: process evaluation

Abstract

Poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) has excellent properties, such as high biocompatibility and an elastic modulus similar to bone, which makes it a suitable biomaterial. When modified with sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4) and hydroxyapatite (HA), its workability and bioactivity is enhanced, and this makes it of great importance in medicine. This study investigates a better combination of process parameters to manufacture sulfonated PEEK/HA (SPEEK/HA) membranes for biomaterials. Chemical, thermal, and biological analyses were carried out on all samples. The sulfonated structure was observed to enhance wettability, adhesion, and cell viability. Furthermore, an increase in the degree of sulfonation facilitated their workability as required for biomaterials; making them suitable for osseointegration. Besides, the SPEEK/HA membranes presented cell adhesion, confirming the viability to use as biomaterial. This study presents a cheap alternative method to easily process biomaterials of improved workability.

Biocompatible Sulphonated PEEK Spheres: Influence of Processing Conditions on Morphology and Swelling Behavior

“…After the sulfonation process, we verified the presence of new bands for SPEEK-6 and SPEEK-10 at 1021 cm -1 , corresponding to the stretching (S=O), and at 3397, 1253, 1077, and 706 cm -1 , which represent the double bonds between sulfur and oxygen (O=S=O), confirming the sulfonation of the material. Similar results were previously reported in [7,18,24].…”

“…The PEEK sulfonation was confirmed by the division of the group C-C absorption band at 1490 cm -1 , with the appearance of a new band at 1471 cm -1 . Therefore, it is necessary to measure the heights of the characteristic bands of both materials [7,12].…”

“…Polymers 2021, 13, 2920 2 of 14 PEEK has been widely used in the aeronautical industry and started to be used also in the biomedical industry after its biocompatibility certification in 1990 [4]. However, the high glass transition temperature (T g ) has hindered its processing [5][6][7].…”

“…Brum et al [13] evaluated the cytotoxicity behavior in two different sulfonation times, but the results showed that the sulfonation process with a duration of 1.5 h presented limited cytocompatibility when in contact with fibroblasts. Pimentel et al [7] obtained sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone)/hydroxyapatite by variating the sulfonation reaction time. The study evaluated the cytotoxicity of SPEEK membranes by using L929 cells similar to fibroblasts and obtained s cell viability of 86%, evidencing its applicability as a biomaterial.…”

Biological tribology properties of the modified polyether ether ketone composite materials

“…For the implantation of heterogeneous materials in vivo, it is necessary to reduce the wear resistance of implant materials. One of the ways to reduce the wear rate of materials is to promote the formation of effective transferring film, so that the relative sliding is carried out between the implant and the friction surface to effectively improve the in vivo adaptability [12][13][14][15]. The characteristics comparison of PEEK material with other biomaterials is as shown in Table 1.…”