Bioactive poly(etheretherketone) composite containing calcium polyphosphate and multi-walled carbon nanotubes for bone repair: Mechanical property and in vitro biocompatibility

Abstract

Poly(etheretherketone) exhibits good biocompatibility, excellent mechanical properties, and bone-like stiffness. However, the natural bio-inertness of pure poly(etheretherketone) hinders its applications in biomedical field, especially when direct bone-implant osteo-integration is desired. For developing an alternative biomaterial for load-bearing orthopedic application, combination of bioactive fillers with poly(etheretherketone) matrix is a feasible approach. In this study, a bioactive multi-walled carbon nanotubes/calcium polyphosphate/poly(etheretherketone) composite was prepared through a compounding and injection-molding process for the first time. Bioactive calcium polyphosphate was added to polymer matrix to enhance the bioactivity of the composite, and incorporation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes to composite was aimed to improve both the mechanical property and biocompatibility. Furthermore, the microstructures, surface hydrophilicity, and mechanical property of multi-walled carbon nanotubes/calcium polyphosphate/poly(etheretherketone) composite, as well as the cellular responses of MC3T3-E1 osteoblast cells to this material were investigated. The mechanical testing revealed that mechanical performance of the resulting ternary composite was significantly enhanced by adding the multi-walled carbon nanotubes and the mechanical values obtained were close to or higher than those of human cortical bone. More importantly, cell culture tests showed that initial cell adhesion, cell viability, and osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells were significantly promoted on the multi-walled carbon nanotubes/calcium polyphosphate/poly(etheretherketone) composite. Accordingly, the multi-walled carbon nanotubes/calcium polyphosphate/poly(etheretherketone) composite may be used as a promising bone repair material in dental and orthopedic applications.

Keywords

Poly(etheretherketone)calcium polyphosphate multi-walled carbon nanotubes composite mechanical property cellular responses bone repair

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Saiz

Rahaman

et al . Toward strong and tough glass and ceramic scaffolds for bone repair. Adv Funct Mater 2013; 23: 5461–5476.

Scharf

Clement

Zolla

et al . Molecular analysis of chromium and cobalt-related toxicity. Sci Rep 2014; 4: 5729–5740.

Okazaki

Gotoh

Comparison of metal release from various metallic biomaterials in vitro. Biomaterials 2005; 26: 11–21.

Hallab

Merritt

Jacobs

JJ.

Metal sensitivity in patients with orthopaedic implants. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2001; 83: 428–436.

Niki

Matsumoto

Otani

et al . Metal ion concentrations in the joint fluid immediately after total knee arthroplasty. Mod Rheumatol 2001; 11: 192–196.

Sloten

Labey

Van Audekercke

et al . Materials selection and design for orthopedic implants with improved long-term performance. Biomaterials 1998; 19: 1455–1459.

Kurtz

Devine

JN.

PEEK biomaterials in trauma, orthopedic, and spinal implants. Biomaterials 2007; 28: 4845–4869.

Abu Bakar

Cheng

MHW

Tang

et al . Tensile properties, tension-tension fatigue and biological response of polyetheretherketone-hydroxyapatite composites for load-bearing orthopedic implants. Biomaterials 2003; 24: 2245–2250.

Awaja

Bax

Zhang

et al . Cell adhesion to PEEK treated by plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition for active medical implants. Plasma Process Polym 2012; 9: 355–362.

10.

Hariram

Kumar

et al . In vitro apatite formation and its growth kinetics on hydroxyapatite/polyetheretherketone biocomposites. Biomaterials 2005; 26: 2343–2352.

11.

Converse

Yue

Roeder

RK.

Processing and tensile properties of hydroxyapatite-whisker-reinforced polyetheretherketone. Biomaterials 2007; 28: 927–935.

12.

Wong

Liu

et al . Mechanical properties and in vitro response of strontium-containing hydroxyapatite/polyetheretherketone composites. Biomaterials 2009; 30: 3810–3817.

13.

Han

Chi

Zheng

et al . Mechanical properties and bioactivity of high-performance poly(etheretherketone)/carbon nanotubes/bioactive glass biomaterials. J Polym Res 2013; 20: 203–210.

14.

Petrovic

Pohle

Munstedt

et al . Effect of beta-TCP filled polyetheretherketone on osteoblast cell proliferation in vitro. J Biomed Sci 2006; 13: 41–46.

15.

Smith

Mutch

Baskar

et al . Polyphosphate modulates blood coagulation and fibrinolysis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2006; 103: 903–908.

16.

Pilliar

Filiaggi

Wells

et al . Porous calcium polyphosphate scaffolds for bone substitute applications—in vitro characterization. Biomaterials 2001; 22: 963–972.

17.

Wang

et al . Polyphosphate as a bioactive and biodegradable implant material: induction of bone regeneration in rats. Adv Eng Mater 2016; 18: 1406–1417.

18.

Comeau

Filiaggi

MJ.

Calcium polyphosphate precipitation—a strategy to tune the chain length of the glass and control the subsequent release of vancomycin. Mater Chem Phys 2015; 159: 56–63.

19.

Huang

et al . Strontium-doped calcium polyphosphate/ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene composites: a new class of artificial joint components with enhanced biological efficacy to aseptic loosening. Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl 2016; 61: 526–533.

20.

Guo

et al . Preparation, characterization, bioactivity and degradation behavior in vitro of copper-doped calcium polyphosphate as a candidate material for bone tissue engineering. RSC Adv 2017; 7: 42614–42626.

21.

Müller

WEG

Tolba

Schroeder

et al . A new polyphosphate calcium material with morphogenetic activity. Mater Lett 2015; 148: 163–166.

22.

Qin

Yang

et al . A promising scaffold with excellent cytocompatibility and pro-angiogenesis action for dental tissue engineering: strontium-doped calcium polyphosphate. Dent Mater J 2016; 35: 241–249.

23.

Abdullah

Goharian

Kadir

MRA

et al . Biomechanical and bioactivity concepts of polyetheretherketone composites for use in orthopedic implants-a review. J Biomed Mater Res A 2015; 103: 3689–3702.

24.

Toader

Rusen

Teodorescu

et al . New polyurea MWCNTs nanocomposite films with enhanced mechanical properties. J Appl Polym Sci 2017; 134: 45061–45067.

25.

Bhattacharya

Polymer nanocomposites—a comparison between carbon nanotubes, graphene, and clay as nanofillers. Materials 2016; 9: 262–291.

26.

Ruoff

Qian

Liu

WK.

Mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes: theoretical predictions and experimental measurements. CR Phys 2003; 4: 993–1008.

27.

Baughman

Zakhidov

de Heer

WA.

Carbon nanotubes—the route toward applications. Science 2002; 297: 787–792.

28.

Smart

Cassady

et al . The biocompatibility of carbon nanotubes. Carbon 2006; 44: 1034–1047.

29.

Usui

Aoki

Narita

et al . Carbon nanotubes with high bone-tissue compatibility and bone-formation acceleration effects. Small 2008; 4: 240–246.

30.

Porter

Pilliar

Grynpas

MD.

Fabrication of porous calcium polyphosphate implants by solid freeform fabrication: a study of processing parameters and in vitro degradation characteristics. J Biomed Mater Res 2001; 56: 504–515.

31.

Montagne

Palavit

Delaval

³¹P NMR in (100 - x)(NaPO₃)-xZnO glasses. J Non: Cryst Solids 1997; 215: 1–10.

32.

Popov

VN.

Carbon nanotubes: properties and application. Mater Sci Eng R 2004; 43: 61–102.

33.

Alves

Leonor

Azevedo

et al . Designing biomaterials based on biomineralization of bone. J Mater Chem 2010; 20: 2911–2921.

34.

Abu Bakar

Cheang

Khor

KA.

Tensile properties and microstructural analysis of spheroidized hydroxyapatite-poly (etheretherketone) biocomposites. Mat Sci Eng A: Struct 2003; 345: 55–63.

35.

Liu

Chan

Shen

et al . Polyetheretherketone hybrid composites with bioactive nanohydroxyapatite and multiwalled. Polymers 2016; 8: 425–443.

36.

Hao

Lawrence

Chian

KS.

Osteoblast cell adhesion on a laser modified zirconia based bioceramic. J Mater Sci: Mater M 2005; 16: 719–726.

37.

Han

Lee

Kim

et al . The electron beam deposition of titanium on polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and the resulting enhanced biological properties. Biomaterials 2010; 31: 3465–3470.

38.

Verrier

Blaker

Maquet

et al . PDLLA/Bioglass composites for soft-tissue and hard-tissue engineering: an in vitro cell biology assessment. Biomaterials 2004; 25: 3013–3021.

39.

Burridge

Fath

Focal contacts-transmembrane links between the extracellular-matrix and the cytoskeleton. Bioessays 1989; 10: 104–108.

40.

Anselme

Osteoblast adhesion on biomaterials. Biomaterials 2000; 21: 667–681.

41.

Hott

Noel

Bernache-Assolant

et al . Proliferation and differentiation of human trabecular osteoblastic cells on hydroxyapatite. J Biomed Mater Res 1997; 37: 508–516.

42.

Gaharwar

Mihaila

Swami

et al . Bioactive silicate nanoplatelets for osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells. Adv Mater 2013; 25: 3329–3336.

43.

Sun

Deng

et al . Peptide decorated nano-hydroxyapatite with enhanced bioactivity and osteogenic differentiation via polydopamine coating. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 2013; 111: 107–116.

44.

Mueller

WEG

Wang

Diehl-Seifert

et al . Inorganic polymeric phosphate/polyphosphate as an inducer of alkaline phosphatase and a modulator of intracellular Ca²⁺ level in osteoblasts (SaOS-2 cells) in vitro. Acta Biomater 2011; 7: 2661–2671.

45.

Saito

Haniu

Usui

et al . Safe clinical use of carbon nanotubes as innovative biomaterials. Chem Rev 2014; 114: 6040–6079.

46.

Hirata

Takita

et al . Development of a 3D collagen scaffold coated with multiwalled carbon nanotubes. J Biomed Mater Res B 2009; 90: 629–634.

47.

Elias

Price

Webster

TJ.

Enhanced functions of osteoblasts on nanometer diameter carbon fibers. Biomaterials 2002; 23: 3279–3287.