Nucleation and growth of apatite on NaOH-treated PEEK, HDPE and UHMWPE for artificial cornea materials

Pino, M., Stingelin, N. and Tanner, K.E. (2008) Nucleation and growth of apatite on NaOH-treated PEEK, HDPE and UHMWPE for artificial cornea materials. Acta Biomaterialia, 4(6), 1827 -1836. (doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2008.05.004)

Abstract

The skirt of an artificial cornea must integrate the implant to the host sclera, a major failure of present devices currently used for such a purpose. Thus, it is highly desirable to encourage the metabolic activity of the cornea using more bioactive, flexible skirt materials. Here we describe attempts to increase the bioactivity of PEEK, HDPE and UHMWPE films. The effectiveness of different strength NaOH pre-treatments to initiate apatite deposition on PEEK, HDPE and UHMWPE is investigated. We find that exposure of PEEK, HDPE and UHMWPE films to NaOH solutions induces the formation of potential nuclei for apatite (calcium phosphate), from which the growth of an apatite coating is stimulated when subsequently immersing the polymer films in 1.5 strength Simulated Body Fluid (SBF). As immersion time in SBF increases, further nucleation and growth produces a thicker and more compact apatite coating that can be expected to be highly bioactive. Interestingly, the apatite growth is found to also be dependent on both the concentration of NaOH solution and the structure of the polymer surface.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Bioactive material, Surface modification, in vitro behaviour, Simulated Body Fluid (SBF), Polymers
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Pino, Monica and Tanner, Professor Kathleen
• Authors: Pino, M., Stingelin, N., and Tanner, K.E.
• Subjects: T Technology > T Technology (General); Q Science > QH Natural history > QH345 Biochemistry
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Biomedical Engineering
• Research Group: Materials Group
• Journal Name: Acta Biomaterialia
• ISSN: 1742-7061