Investigation on sulphonated PEEK beads for drug delivery, bioactivity and tissue engineering applications

Poly ether ether ketone (PEEK) has wide applications in the field of medicine as a prosthetic material and can be sulphonated using sulphuric acid. This study focuses on the fabrication of water soluble SPEEK beads using infusion pump and the obtained beads were characterised using Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) spectroscopy to confirm the sulphonation, while their surface morphology was studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM). In order to study the bioactivity of the prepared beads, hydroxyapatite was dispersed within them followed by their immersion in SBF. In order to study the drug release kinetics of the beads, they were loaded with amoxicillin in different concentrations. Cytotoxicity studies were performed by MTT method and ALP activity was measured using mouse osteoblast cells (MC3T3-E1). The SEM and FTIR of the prepared beads confirmed the morphology and the sulphonation of the prepared beads. Also, the apatite formation on the SPEEK beads, subsequent to their immersion in SBF, proved that the beads possessed excellent bioactivity. Moreover, the beads developed exhibited low cytotoxicity, implying good biocompatibility and safety. Thus, the results of the study indicated that the novel SPEEK beads could potentially be used as a drug carrying vehicle with low toxicity.