Production of porous graphene oxide and poly(ether) ether ketone nanocomposite by wet mixing method for implants and bone tissue engineering scaffolds

Date

2025-6-26

Author

Uysal, İdil

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This thesis details the creation of a composite biomaterial using sulfonated polyether ether ketone (SPEEK) as the matrix and graphene oxide (GO) as reinforcement. The degree of sulfonation for PEEK was 78.4%. Composites were prepared with GO concentrations of 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2.5, and 5 wt.%. NaCl was incorporated as a porogen with two particle sizes (>212 µm and <80 µm), yielding amorphous GO/SPEEK membranes with two porosities: 75.1% and 56.7%. No samples exhibited degradation in PBS in 8 weeks. High-porosity samples displayed the highest water uptake ratio (213%), while non-porous samples had a water uptake of approximately 27% and a lower water contact angle (average 84.8°). Conversely, highly porous samples were hydrophobic (134.9°). Ultimate tensile strength and elastic modulus increased with GO up to 1 wt.% for non-porous samples, and dramatically decreased for porous ones. Cell viability (Saos-2 cells) was most enhanced by 75.1% porosity and 5 wt.% GO. GO addition had no effects on water contact angle and water uptake ratio. Selected samples were decorated with wurtzite hexagonal ZnO crystals via a hydrothermal method. This ZnO modification didn’t affect biodegradability or water contact angle but reduced swelling in non-porous samples. ALP activity increased in non-decorated samples with GO addition, and porosity further increased ALP activity. Intracellular calcium content rose on day 14 across all samples, aligning with early ALP upregulation. Bioactivity generally increased with porosity and gave the most crystalline HA structure on day 7. Ultimately, 5GO/SPEEK@ZnO was identified as the optimal composition for bone tissue engineering scaffolds.

Subject Keywords

PEEK, Graphene oxide, Sulfonation, Bone tissue engineering, Zinc oxide decoration

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/115613

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Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis