Polyaniline as potential radical scavenger for ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene

• Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene/polyaniline (PANI) composites were done.
• 10 wt% of PANI reduced by 27.3% the free radical content of a solution.
• 10 wt% of PANI enabled to retain the mechanical properties of polyethylene.

Novel ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) composites were processed by micro-extrusion with polyaniline (PANI) as potential reinforcing and radical scavenging agent and with lauryl gallate (LG) as coupling agent. By means of UV–vis spectroscopy, it was found that the presence of PANI reduced at maximum by 27.3% the concentration in free radicals of a 2,2-dimethyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) solution in which was immersed the composite. This result was obtained with the UHMWPE/LG/PANI weight composition 89/1/10, which also demonstrated to retain the viscoelastic and tensile properties of neat UHMWPE. The dispersion of PANI micro-particles within the UHMWPE matrix may be an alternative to the stabilization step of crosslinked UHMWPE used in joint prosthesis.

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