Liao Chengzhu, Li Yuchao, Tjong Sie Chin
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, China.
Polymers (Basel). 2020 Nov 29;12(12):2858. doi: 10.3390/polym12122858.
In this article, recent advances in the development, preparation, biocompatibility and mechanical properties of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and its composites for hard and soft tissue engineering are reviewed. PEEK has been widely employed for fabricating spinal fusions due to its radiolucency, chemical stability and superior sterilization resistance at high temperatures. PEEK can also be tailored into patient-specific implants for treating orbital and craniofacial defects in combination with additive manufacturing process. However, PEEK is bioinert, lacking osseointegration after implantation. Accordingly, several approaches including surface roughening, thin film coating technology, and addition of bioactive hydroxyapatite (HA) micro-/nanofillers have been adopted to improve osseointegration performance. The elastic modulus of PEEK is 3.7-4.0 GPa, being considerably lower than that of human cortical bone ranging from 7-30 GPa. Thus, PEEK is not stiff enough to sustain applied stress in load-bearing orthopedic implants. Therefore, HA micro-/nanofillers, continuous and discontinuous carbon fibers are incorporated into PEEK for enhancing its stiffness for load-bearing applications. Among these, carbon fibers are more effective than HA micro-/nanofillers in providing additional stiffness and load-bearing capabilities. In particular, the tensile properties of PEEK composite with 30wt% short carbon fibers resemble those of cortical bone. Hydrophobic PEEK shows no degradation behavior, thus hampering its use for making porous bone scaffolds. PEEK can be blended with hydrophilic polymers such as polyglycolic acid and polyvinyl alcohol to produce biodegradable scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications.
本文综述了聚醚醚酮（PEEK）及其复合材料在硬组织和软组织工程开发、制备、生物相容性及力学性能方面的最新进展。PEEK因其射线可透过性、化学稳定性以及在高温下优异的耐灭菌性，已被广泛用于制造脊柱融合器。结合增材制造工艺，PEEK还可定制为患者特异性植入物，用于治疗眼眶和颅面缺损。然而，PEEK具有生物惰性，植入后缺乏骨整合能力。因此，人们采用了包括表面粗糙化、薄膜涂层技术以及添加生物活性羟基磷灰石（HA）微/纳米填料等多种方法来改善骨整合性能。PEEK的弹性模量为3.7 - 4.0吉帕，远低于人皮质骨7 - 30吉帕的弹性模量。因此，在承重骨科植入物中，PEEK的硬度不足以承受施加的应力。所以，将HA微/纳米填料、连续和不连续碳纤维加入PEEK中，以增强其在承重应用中的硬度。其中，碳纤维在提供额外硬度和承重能力方面比HA微/纳米填料更有效。特别是，含30wt%短碳纤维的PEEK复合材料的拉伸性能与皮质骨相似。疏水性的PEEK无降解行为，因此阻碍了其用于制造多孔骨支架。PEEK可与聚乙醇酸和聚乙烯醇等亲水性聚合物共混，以生产用于骨组织工程应用的可生物降解支架。
