Zhang W, Xia X, Qi C, Xie C, Cai S. A porous Cu/LDPE composite for copper-containing intrauterine contraceptive devices.
Acta Biomater 2012;
8:897-903. [PMID:
21982847 DOI:
10.1016/j.actbio.2011.09.024]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2011] [Revised: 08/07/2011] [Accepted: 09/20/2011] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
To improve the rates of both cupric ion release and the utilization of copper in non-porous copper/low-density polyethylene (Cu/LDPE) composite, a porous Cu/LDPE composite is proposed and developed in the present work. Here 2,5-di-tert-butylhydroquinone was chosen as the porogen, ethyl acetate was chosen as the solvent for extraction, and the porous Cu/LDPE composite was obtained by using injection molding and the particulate leaching method. After any residual ethyl acetate remaining inside the porous Cu/LDPE composite had been removed by vacuum drying, the composite was characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and absorption measurement. For comparison, a non-porous Cu/LDPE composite was also characterized in the same way. The results show that the porous structure was successfully introduced into the polymeric base of the non-porous Cu/LDPE composite, and the porous Cu/LDPE composite is a simple hybrid of copper particles and porous LDPE. The results also show that the introduction of a porous structure can improve the cupric ion release rate of the non-porous Cu/LDPE composite with a certain content of copper particles, indicating that the utilization rate of copper can be improved either the introduction of a porous structure, and that the porous Cu/LDPE composite is another promising material for copper-containing intrauterine devices.
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