Low viscosity versus high viscosity PMMA bone cement for total joint arthroplasty: Influence of glass transition temperature, residual monomer content, transmittance of chemical functional groups, and crystallinity index on quasi-static flexural strength

Abstract

The commercially available low viscosity (LV) PMMA bone cement has higher mechanical properties than high viscosity (HV) PMMA bone cement. However, the influence of glass transition temperature, residual monomer content, transmittance of chemical functional groups and crystallinity index on flexural strength is yet to be unveiled. The present study is aimed to investigate the influence of glass transition temperature, residual monomer content, transmittance of chemical functional groups and crystallinity index that contributed to the higher flexural strength of LV bone cement compared to HV bone cement. The thermal behavior analysis indicated higher glass transition temperature and residual content for LV bone cement (87.5 ± 1.80 °C and 15.56±0.62%, respectively) as compared to HV bone cement (81±2.64 °C and 13.69±0.38%, respectively). Moreover, the chemical parameters such as relatively low residual monomer content computed using Raman spectroscopy and low transmittance of chemical functional groups found in FTIR spectra for LV bone cement imply better flexural strength compared to that of HV bone cement. Results indicated the crystallinity index was higher for LV (42.78 ± 0.54%) bone cement than HV bone cement (36.41 ± 0.18%). The difference in flexural strength between LV and HV bone cements governed by glass transition temperature, crystallinity index, residual monomer content and transmittance of chemical functional groups assists in the improvement and applications of PMMA bone cement.