Mechanical characterization of self-curing acrylic cements formulated with poly(methylmethacrylate) / poly(e -caprolactone) beads

ABRAHAM,G.A.; VALLO,C.I.; SAN ROMAN,J; CUADRADO,T.R.

Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials.

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lugar: New York, USA.; Año: 2004 vol. 70 p. 340 - 347

1552-4973

New acrylic-based cements were formulated by replacing a mass fraction of 20 % of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) powder by PMMA / poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) beads. PMMA/PCL beads containing 10 % and 30 % PCL were synthesized by suspension polymerization. Cements were prepared by replacing part of the PMMA powder of the formulation by an equivalent mass of PMMA/PCL particles. The influence of the PCL content in the beads on the mechanical behavior was assessed by testing the cements in flexure and compression. The addition of PMMA/PCL particles with 10 % PCL content resulted in a marked increase in both flexural modulus and flexural strength related to the plain PMMA beads formulation. This improvement was attributed to a decrease in the cured material porosity. Conversely, by the incorporation of beads with 30 % PCL content the flexural properties decreased. This behaviour was attributed to the debonding of the particles from the matrix, which it was revealed by SEM images. The observed compressive yield strength decrease with the increase of PCL content in the beads was attributed to a low degree of adhesion between the heterogeneous particles and the matrix as well as to the plasticizing effect of the PCL.