Thermal processing of hydroxyapatite reinforced polyetheretherketone composites

Hydroxyapatite (HA) reinforced Poly(etheretherketone) composites with potential application as major load-bearing bone implant materials were produced using a twin-cam rotor internal mixer. The effect of HA loadings and various thermal processing conditions on the crystallinity of the PEEK polymer and its composites were investigated using two different methods, i.e. density analysis and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). From density analysis, it was observed that HA loadings did not influence the crystallinity of the composites as compared to DSC, which indicated that the crystallinity increased slightly with HA loadings. Thermal processing parameters such as melt temperature, residence time and cooling rate was found to influence the structural characteristics of HA reinforced PEEK composites. In general, increasing the thermal processing parameter resulted in a decrease in crystallinity. A similar trend was observed for both the techniques used.