Wetting Properties of Polyetheretherketone Plasma Activated and Biocoated Surfaces

Abstract

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) biomaterial is a polymer which has been widely used since the early 90s as a material for human bone implant preparations. Nowadays it is increasingly used due to its high biocompatibility and easily modeling, as well as better mechanical properties and price compared to counterparts made of titanium or platinum alloys. In this paper, air low-temperature and pressure plasma was used to enhance PEEK adhesive properties as well as surface sterilization. On the activated polymeric carrier, biologically-active substances have been deposited with the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. Thereafter, the surface was characterized using optical profilometry, and wettability was examined by contact angle measuring. Next, the contact angle hysteresis (CAH) model was used to calculate the surface free energy of the modified surface of PEEK. The variations of wettability and surface free energy were observed depending on the deposited monolayer type and its components.

Polyether ether ketone surface modification with plasma and gelatin for enhancing cell attachment

“…The Wenzel roughness, r w , is defined as the ratio of the actual surface area to its projected area. Taking the literature value for the wetting angle of PEEK of θ = 88° ± 2°, 30 and using our measured r w , the observed θ * matches the calculated value of θ * = 87.6°. For the plasma‐treated PEEK, we observed θ * = 52° and r w = 1.223, which gave a resultant contact angle of θ = 51°.…”

“…However, Richards et al found no significant effect of roughness on fibroblast cell adhesion 29 . The relationship between surface roughness and cell attachment is unclear due to several conflicting reports 30 . Novotna et al claimed that increasing the roughness decreased the wettability (i.e., contact angle) of water and, as a result, the cell attachment and the osseointegration process were enhanced 15 .…”

“…29 The relationship between surface roughness and cell attachment is unclear due to several conflicting reports. 30 Novotna et al claimed that increasing the roughness decreased the wettability (i.e., contact angle) of water and, as a result, the cell attachment and the osseointegration process were enhanced. 15 Therefore, in this study we investigated the surface modification of PEEK using two methods which also influenced the surface roughness and wettability.…”

Properties of the Langmuir and Langmuir–Blodgett monolayers of cholesterol-cyclosporine A on water and polymer support

“…The prepared modified PEEK surfaces have been subjected to wettability measurements using the system of three liquids with different polarity (water, formamide, diiodomethane) as well as structure determination by means of atomic force microscopy. Moreover, the topography analysis by optical profilometry was conducted and presented in our other paper (Przykaza et al 2019). On the basis of contact angles measurements the values of apparent surface free energy and its components were estimated using the van Oss et al approach (1989;.…”

Optical properties of plasma‐treated PEEK: Monitoring colour and crystallinity for applications in medicine and dentistry using ellipsometry

“…[1,2] Although native PEEK is chemically inert, PIII is known to improve its biological integration in bone implants [2,3] through increases in hydrophilicity and bioactivity. [4] The change in chemical properties of PIII-treated polymer further enables the binding of proteins on the modified layer providing excellent potential for the binding of antimicrobial peptides. [5,6] PIII along with atmospheric plasma treatments have also shown promise by increasing the bond strength between layers of the polymer through autohesion and strong cross-linking.…”