HAp and PEEK BIOCOMPOSITS FOR BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS

The studies aimed at the development of composite biomaterials for bone tissue repair, have the advantage of associating the properties of each material used and better meet the requirements for each application. The biomaterials used as bone tissue substitutes must have characteristics such as biocompatibility, biodegradability and osteoconductibility. Among the materials used to obtain composites, the hydroxyapatite, which is a biocompatible ceramic that presents similarities with the mineral component of the bones and the polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK), a thermoplastic polymer with high thermal stability, modulus of elasticity similar to the bone and biocompatible. The objective of this work was to develop PEEK/HAp composites aiming at obtaining a bone loss substitute material and to evaluate its physical-chemical properties in different proportions (20, 40 and 60%m/v of HAp). Samples of the composites in the different proportions were developed and characterized by vibrational absorption spectroscopy in the infrared region with Fourier transform (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM).