Adhesion improvement at the PMMA bone cement-titanium implant interface using methyl methacrylate atmospheric pressure plasma polymerization

• Plasma polymerization at atmospheric pressure of methyl methacrylate on titanium
• High tunability in functional group retention
• Linear increase in deposition time
• Long-term stable coatings when incubated in PBS at 37°
• 27–50% increase in adhesive strength between bone cement and coated implant material

In this work, methyl methacrylate based coatings are deposited on Ti, using an atmospheric pressure DBD plasma to improve the Ti–PMMA bone cement interfacial adhesion. Surface analysis (XPS, AFM, optical reflectance spectroscopy) indicates a well-controlled deposition process of long-term water-stable coatings with good tunability towards thickness and functional group retention. Different sample series, both plasma activated and plasma coated, immobilized in bone cement, are submitted to pull-out tests. Results show a maximum increase of 50% in adhesive force. Ageing tests show that plasma-treated samples return to their original adhesive properties within 14 days, while plasma-coated samples maintain stability.

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