Preparation And Properties Of Copper-containing Composite Based On PEO-LDPE Polymer Alloy

In this paper, a novel copper-containing composite based on PEO-LDPE polymer alloy for intrauterine devices(IUD), i.e., copper/polyethylene oxide/low-density polyethylene(Cu/PEO/LDPE) composite, has been proposed and developed successfully by using the powder blending and injection molding technique. Then, its injection molding process, structure, mechanical properties, hydrophilicity and cupric ions release behavior were investigated.Study on the injection molding process of the Cu/PEO/LDPE composite shows that the appropriate injection process parameters of preparing the Cu/PEO/LDPE composite are 60 bar of injection pressure, 165 ℃ of injection temperature, 180 ℃ of barrel temperature, 10 bar of packing pressure, 0.5 s of packing time and 70 % of injection rate.Study on the strcture of the Cu/PEO/LDPE composite shows that the Cu/PEO/LDPE composite is a simple hybrid of the pure Cu, the pure PEO and the pure LDPE. Additionly, the crystallinity degree of its LDPE matrix decreases due to the introduction of PEO. After the Cu/PEO/LDPE composite was immersed in simulated uterine solution, nano-sized and well interconnected porous structure is obtained in its LDPE matrix.Study on the properties of the Cu/PEO/LDPE composite shows that its properties can be easily regulated by changing the PEO content or/and the Cu content. With the increasing of its PEO content or its Cu content, its mechanical properties decrease, but its hydrophilicity and cupric ions release rate increase, and the influence of the PEO content on its properties is more remarkable than that of the Cu content. Especially, under the conditions that its mechanical properties are not inferior to that of the scaffold material of the existing Cu-IUD, the contact angle of the Cu/PEO/LDPE composite with 15 wt.% of Cu and 8 wt.% of PEO is 35.55° smaller than that of the Cu/LDPE composite with the same content of Cu, and its cupric ions release rate is about 20 times higher than that of this Cu/LDPE composite. These results indicate that this Cu/PEO/LDPE composite has a much better biocompatibility than that of the Cu/LDPE composite, and the weight of Cu-IUD prepared with this Cu/PEO/LDPE composite would be about 4.5 times smaller than that prepared with this Cu/LDPE composite when they have the same cupric ions release rates, indicating that the Cu/PEO/LDPE composite would be a more excellent material for Cu-IUD.