Polyether-ether-ketone/poly(methyl methacrylate)/carbon fiber ternary composites prepared by electrospinning and hot pressing for bone implant applications

Abstract

Currently, metals such as titanium and various new high-performance engineering plastics such as polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) are widely used in clinics. Compared with human cortical bone, traditional metals may cause stress shielding. In contrast, the elastic modulus of PEEK is slightly lower than that of human bones. In this study, PEEK and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) were electrospun into fibers and mixed with carbon fiber (CF). The mixture was then hot-pressed to prepare PEEK/PMMA/CF ternary composites. Mechanical tests showed that the Young's moduli of the PEEK/PMMA/CF ternary composites were between 4.67 ± 0.38 and 6.37 ± 0.81 GPa, similar to human bones. In vitro cytotoxicity tests, after 7 days of cell culture, showed that the relative growth rates were 86–97%, and the corresponding cytotoxicity levels were 0 or 1. In addition, in vivo experiments demonstrated that the ternary composites exhibited good histocompatibilities and displayed no rejection or inflammatory reactions. No artifacts were observed when the material was examined using X-ray, CT (computerized tomography computed tomography), and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanning. Thus, the PEEK/PMMA/CF ternary composites fabricated in this study may be used as promising bone implant materials in orthopedic applications.