What is PEEK?

What is PEEK?

Polyether ether ketone (English poly-ether-ether-ketone, referred to as PEEK) is in the main chain structure containing two ether bonds and a ketone bond repeating unit composed of polymers, is a special polymer materials, is a material series of polyarylene ether ketone, with semi-crystalline state, with high temperature resistance, chemical corrosion resistance and so on.

Properties of PEEK

Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) is currently polyarylether ketone (PAEK) materials in the mass production of the only varieties, PEEK as a special engineering plastics, with superb comprehensive performance.

Typical properties of PEEK:

(1) Easy processing: PEEK resin has good high temperature fluidity, high thermal decomposition temperature, injection molding, extrusion molding, molding, blow molding, melt spinning, rotational molding and powder coating and other processing methods.

(2) Radiation resistance: strong radiation resistance, in high doses of γ-rays under the mechanical properties can still be more complete retention, more than the best general-purpose resins in the radiation-resistant Polystyrene can be used as a radiation-resistant parts of nuclear equipment.

(3) Flame retardant: PEEK has a self-extinguishing, even without any flame retardant, up to UL standard 94V-0 level.

(4) Creep resistance: materials under constant stress, permanent deformation occurs over a period of time for creep, PEEK is the best thermoplastic resin creep-resistant materials.

(5) Toughness and rigidity: high tensile strength, high stress cracking strength, especially for the alternating stress fatigue resistance is very prominent, comparable to alloy materials.

(6) Self-lubricating (wear resistance): PEEK has excellent sliding characteristics, suitable for strict requirements of low coefficient of friction and wear-resistant use of the occasion; especially with carbon fibers, graphite, PTFE modified PEEK wear resistance is very superior.

(7) High temperature resistance: PEEK has a high glass transition temperature (Tg = 143 ° C) and melting point (Tm = 334 ° C), its load heat distortion temperature of up to 316 ° C, the long-term use of the temperature of 260 ° C, instantaneous use of the temperature up to 300 ° C, at high temperatures and high pressures in a long period of time without any loss of physical properties.

(8) Hydrolysis resistance: at a temperature of 260 ℃ steam or in high pressure water immersion, PEEK products can still work continuously for thousands of hours without significant performance degradation; in all engineering plastics, PEEK has the best resistance to hydrolysis and steam resistance.

(9) Non-toxic: can be used in food hygiene, medical equipment and other fields.

(10) Corrosion resistance: in addition to concentrated sulfuric acid, PEEK is insoluble in any solvents and strong acids and alkalis, with high chemical stability.

(11) Fatigue resistance: PEEK has the best fatigue resistance among all thermoplastic resin materials.

Applications of PEEK

Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) resin is a special engineering plastics with excellent performance, compared with other special engineering plastics have many significant advantages, high temperature resistance, excellent mechanical properties, good self-lubrication, chemical corrosion resistance, flame retardant, peel resistance, irradiation resistance, insulation stability, hydrolysis resistance and easy to process, etc., in the field of aerospace, automotive, electrical and electronic, medical and food processing, etc. to be Widely used in aerospace, automotive manufacturing, electrical and electronic, medical and food processing fields.

PEEK resin was first used in the aerospace field, replacing aluminum and other metal materials to manufacture a variety of aircraft parts.

In the automotive industry, PEEK resin has good friction resistance and mechanical properties, as a raw material for the manufacture of engine covers, bearings, gaskets, seals, clutch rings, and other parts manufactured with its transmission, brakes and air-conditioning systems in the automobile are widely used.

PEEK resin is an ideal electrical insulator, in high temperature, high pressure and high humidity and other harsh operating conditions, can still maintain good electrical insulation properties, so the field of electronic information has gradually become the second largest application areas of PEEK resin, the manufacture of pipelines for the delivery of ultrapure water, valves and pumps, in the semiconductor industry, commonly used to manufacture wafer carrier, electronic insulation diaphragm and a variety of connecting devices. As a semi-crystalline engineering plastics, PEEK insoluble in concentrated sulfuric acid outside of almost all solvents, and therefore commonly used to make compressor valve, piston rings, seals and a variety of chemical pumps, valves and parts.

PEEK resin can also withstand up to 3,000 cycles of autoclaving at 134°C, which makes it suitable for the production of highly sterilized surgical and dental equipment that needs to be used repeatedly.PEEK is not only lightweight, non-toxic and corrosion-resistant, but also possesses elasticity modulus that is extremely close to that of human cortical bone, which allows it to be bonded to the body, so PEEK resin is another important application in the medical field, as it can be used instead of metal in the manufacture of human bones. PEEK was first used in clinical practice in 1999, and since then more than five million PEEK products have been implanted into the human body, and it has become the industry gold standard in the field of spinal fusion. In recent years, PEEK has been hailed as "the ideal material for the next generation of implantable medical products".

Answer the questions and solve the puzzles

Question 1: Why develop PEEK materials?
The need for economic development: 1973 and 1978 two world oil crisis, soaring crude oil prices. The cost of polymer materials with petroleum as the main raw material rose linearly, and the commodity market fell into an extremely difficult situation. In this economic context, forcing people to try to use the same raw materials, to prepare higher value products. Functional polymers in this external conditions prompted the rapid development of up.
Requirements of scientific and technological development: the 20th century 80-90 years, science and technology has developed rapidly. Energy, information, electronics and life sciences and other fields of development, polymer materials put forward new requirements. That is, the polymer materials with high performance and high functionality has not had so far, and even require both high functionality and high performance of polymer materials.

Question 2: What are the implants made of PEEK?
(1) Bone replacement - maxillofacial and cranial implants
(2) Spinal surgery - spinal fusion devices
(3) Bone and hip replacements - joint implants
(4) Orthopedic devices: fixation plates and screws
(5) Dental substitutes - dental implants made of CFR-PEEK, dentures, intra-root cementation
(6) Heart surgery - heart pumps and valves