Study of polymerization of acrylic bone cement: effect of HEMA and EGDMA

The polymerization reaction of standard surgical Simplex-P radiopaque bone cement was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry to determine the influence of hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) on the polymerization reaction. From the kinetic analysis, the polymerization reaction of the modified acrylic bone cement was found to be approximately a first-order reaction. The reaction rate constants (k) were determined. It was found that the effects of HEMA and EGDMA contents on the rate and the heat of polymerization can be explained by the frequency factor and the activation energy. An increase in HEMA content tends to result in an increase in the values of both frequency factor and activation energy, whereas an increase in EGDMA content tends to induce a decrease in the frequency factor and activation energy.