Improved bonding strength of polyethylene/polymethylmetacrylate bone cement – a preliminary study

The adhesion of polymethylmetacrylate (PMMA) bone cement and low density polyethylene (LDPE) substrate by means of corona discharge treatment are presented. The surfaces were characterized by water contact angle goniometer, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy in the attenuated total reflectance mode (FTIR-ATR), electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for surface morphology. The bonding strength between bone cement and LDPE with varying intensity of corona treatment was evaluated by a 180° peel test.

The water contact angles decreased with increasing treatment intensity from 95.0 ± 1.8 to around 43.5°. It was observed that the oxygen containing groups as hydroxyl, ether, carboxylic acid, ester, ketone or aldehyde groups were introduced on the LDPE surfaces by corona treatment. The peel strength steeply increased from 0 to 1.75 kg_f/cm with increasing the intensity of corona treatment. The improved adhesion of bone cement onto LDPE substrate may be due to only secondary force such as hydrogen bonding between PMMA bone cement and hydrophilized LDPE substrate.