Surface and chemical properties of surface-modified UHMWPE powder and mechanical and thermal properties of it impregnated PMMA bone cement, III: effect of various ratios of initiator/inhibitor on the surface modification of UHMWPE powder

Abstract

From our previous study, 3 wt% of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) powder surface-modified by various ratios of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) solution was impregnated to improve the poor mechanical and thermal properties of conventional PMMA bone cement. In this study, various amounts of benzoyl peroxide (BPO) and hydroquinone were used for the adhesion reinforcement of UHMWPE powder with PMMA polymerized from MMA monomer (polyMMA) by the mixture of BPO and hydroquinone and ultimately to strengthen the poor mechanical and thermal properties of conventional PMMA bone cement. The tensile strengths of 3 wt% of UHMWPE powders surface-precoated with polyMMA prepared by various amounts of BPO- and hydroquinone-impregnated composite PMMA bone cements were similar to that of conventional PMMA bone cement. In particular, 3 wt% of UHMWPE powder surface precoated with polyMMA prepared with 0.75 wt% of BPO and 300 ppm of hydroquinone impregnated composite PMMA bone cement revealed the maximum tensile strength. However, no obvious significant difference was revealed, although the curing temperatures of the composite PMMA bone cements decreased from 103°C to 91–97°C. From these results, it was determined that the mixture of BPO and hydroquinone plays an important role in improving the poor mechanical properties of conventional PMMA bone cement. However, the thermal properties of the composite PMMA bone cements were not remarkably improved. The mechanical, chemical and thermal properties were individually confirmed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), universal transverse mercator (UTM), Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance (FT-IR–ATR) and digital thermometer, respectively.