Thermal analysis studies of poly(etheretherketone)/hydroxyapatite biocomposite mixtures

Biocomposite formulations which have the potential to combine the proven mechanical performance of poly(etheretherketone) (PEEK) with the inherent bioactivity of hydroxyapatite (HA), may have a utility as load-bearing materials in a medical implant context. The effect of thermal processing on the relevant properties of the PEEK and/or HA components in any fabricated composite structure is, however, an important consideration for their effective exploitation. This paper reports the results of a detailed thermal characterization study of a series of PEEK/HA mixtures using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC). The TGA analyses show minimal weight loss for all of the mixtures and for a pure PEEK sample up to approximately 530 degrees C. Above this point there is a sharp on-set of decomposition for the PEEK component in each case. The temperature at which this feature occurs varies for each mixture in the approximate range 539-556 degrees C. This observation is supported by the presence of exotherms in the corresponding DSC scans, in the same temperature region, which are also assigned to PEEK decomposition. The temperature at which the degradation on-set occurs is found to decrease with increasing HA contribution. The use of the modulated DSC technique allows a number of important thermal events, not easily identifiable from the data obtained by the conventional method, to be clearly observed. In particular, the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the polymer can now be accurately determined. Using these thermal analysis data, calculations of the % crystallinity of PEEK in the mixtures have been made and compared with that of a 100% polymer sample. From these studies it is evident that the presence of HA does not adversely affect the degree of crystallinity of the PEEK component in the mixtures of interest over the thermal range studied.