title: Influence of the activator in an acrylic bone cement on an array of cement properties.
abstract: In all but one of the acrylic bone cement brands used in cemented arthroplasties, N,N-dimethyl-4-toluidine (DMPT) serves as the activator of the polymerization reaction. However, many concerns have been raised about this activator, all related to its toxicity. Thus, various workers have assessed a number of alternative activators, with two examples being N,N-dimethylamino-4-benzyl laurate (DMAL) and N,N-dimethylamino-4-benzyl oleate (DMAO). The results of limited characterization of cements that contain DMAL or DMAO have been reported in the literature. The present work is a comprehensive comparison of cements that contain one of these three activators, in which the values of a large array of their properties were determined. These properties range from the setting time and maximum exotherm temperature of the curing cement to the variation of the loss elastic modulus of the cured cement with frequency of the applied indenting force in dynamic nanoindentation tests. The present results, taken in conjunction with those presented in previous reports by the present authors and co-workers on other properties of these cements, indicate that both DMAL and DMPT are suitable alternatives to DMPT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. glewis@memphis.edu
authors.forename: Gladius
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Sanjukta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deb
authors.forename: Blanca Vázquez
authors.initials: BV
authors.lastname: Lasa
authors.forename: Julio San
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Román
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins / Q000737:chemistry*; D001843:Bone Cements / Q000737:chemistry*; D002021:Buffers; D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D019245:Compressive Strength; D007700:Kinetics; D007848:Laurates / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology; D013718:Tensile Strength; D014052:Toluidines / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: C113594:4-N,N-dimethylaminobenzyl laurate; D000180:Acrylic Resins; D001843:Bone Cements; D002021:Buffers; D007848:Laurates; D014052:Toluidines; C015835:dimethyl-4-toluidine