Obtenção de compósito PEEK/CaCO3 como biomaterial.

Abstract

The poli(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) presents properties such as tenacity, fatigue resistance, biocompatibility and elastic modulus similar to that of the bone, which makes this polymer increasingly used as a biomaterial. However, because it is a bioinert material, it presents minimal or no interaction with the bone tissue, hampering its application in the biomedic field. One way to overcome this problem is to incorporate bioactive particles to the PEEK, such as calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Therefore, the objective of this work was to obtain PEEK/CaCO3 composites in different concentrations with two different types of CaCO3, using the cold compression technique, followed by thermal treatment at 390 ºC for 45 minutes. For this purpose, the composites 20%PEEK/75%CaCO3 and 25%PEEK/75%CaCO3, codified as samples A and B, were produced with Vetec carbonate, and the composites 20%PEEK/80%CaCO3 and 25%PEEK/75%CaCO3, codified as samples C and D, with CERTBIO carbonate. These were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), citotoxicity and cell adhesion. By the SEM analysis, it was possible to observe that the morphologies of the composites presented themselves in an homogeneous way. With the results obtained in the FTIR, XRD and DSC, the composites evidenced the presence of PEEK and CaCO3 without the appearance of new bands, peaks or phase transitions. These results show that no chemical reaction has occurred between the used materials. An indication of composite biocompatibility was confirmed with the citotoxicity test, which revealed them to be non-toxic. The B and D samples presented higher cell adhesion for the growth of bone tissue. Based on the results, the obtained composites may be an indication to their use as a biomaterial.