Siddiq, Abdur R. and Kennedy, Andrew R. (2015) Porous poly-ether ether ketone (PEEK) manufactured by a novel powder route using near-spherical salt bead porogens : characterisation and mechanical properties. Materials Science and Engineering: C, 47. pp. 180-188. ISSN 0928-4931
PEEK_Paper_MSE_C.pdf - Accepted Version
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Abstract
Porous PEEK structures with approximately 85% open porosity have been made using PEEK-OPTIMAtextregistered powder and a particulate leaching technique using porous, near-spherical, sodium chloride beads. A novel manufacturing approach is presented and compared with a traditional dry mixing method. Irrespective of the method used, the use of near-spherical beads with a fairly narrow size range results in uniform pore structures. However the integration, by tapping, of fine PEEK into a pre-existing network salt beads, followed by compaction and textquotedblleftsinteringtextquotedblright, produces porous structures with excellent repeatability and homogeneity of density; more uniform pore and strut sizes; an improved and predictable level of connectivity via the formation of textquotedblleftwindowstextquotedblright between the cells; faster salt removal rates and lower levels of residual salt. Although tapped samples show a compressive yield stress N1 MPa and stiffness N30 MPa for samples with 84% porosity, the presence of windows in the cell walls means that tapped structures show lower strengths and lower stiffnesses than equivalent structures made by mixing.