Fabrication and mechanical properties of different types of carbon fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone: A comparative study.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To find alternative non-metallic materials as dental implants for clinical application, different types of carbon fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone were fabricated and investigated. METHODS: Continuous carbon fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone fabrics were fabricated with polyetheretherketone fibers and carbon fibers. Different kinds of carbon fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone were synthesized by setting specific experiment parameters of injection or hot press molding. Various mechanical tests were performed to determine the mechanical properties of different carbon fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone, pure polyetheretherketone and pure titanium. RESULTS: Polyetheretherketone composites presented outstanding mechanical and thermal properties after incorporating carbon fiber. The bending and tensile strength of short carbon fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone were close to human bone, and the bending strength of continuous carbon fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone reached 644 MPa, even higher than that of pure titanium. CONCLUSIONS: The mechanical properties of polyetheretherketone composites are more similar to bone tissue than titanium, and the stress shielding phenomenon may be inhibited. They may become promising materials as substitutions for titanium and prospective materials in bone tissue engineering.