title: A porous Cu/LDPE composite for copper-containing intrauterine contraceptive devices.
abstract: To improve the rates of both cupric ion release and the utilization of copper in non-porous copper/low-density polyethylene (Cu/LDPE) composite, a porous Cu/LDPE composite is proposed and developed in the present work. Here 2,5-di-tert-butylhydroquinone was chosen as the porogen, ethyl acetate was chosen as the solvent for extraction, and the porous Cu/LDPE composite was obtained by using injection molding and the particulate leaching method. After any residual ethyl acetate remaining inside the porous Cu/LDPE composite had been removed by vacuum drying, the composite was characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and absorption measurement. For comparison, a non-porous Cu/LDPE composite was also characterized in the same way. The results show that the porous structure was successfully introduced into the polymeric base of the non-porous Cu/LDPE composite, and the porous Cu/LDPE composite is a simple hybrid of copper particles and porous LDPE. The results also show that the introduction of a porous structure can improve the cupric ion release rate of the non-porous Cu/LDPE composite with a certain content of copper particles, indicating that the utilization rate of copper can be improved either the introduction of a porous structure, and that the porous Cu/LDPE composite is another promising material for copper-containing intrauterine devices.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Material Processing and Die & Mould Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, People's Republic of China.
authors: Weiwei
authors: W
authors: Zhang
authors: Xianping
authors: X
authors: Xia
authors: Cheng
authors: C
authors: Qi
authors: Changsheng
authors: C
authors: Xie
authors: Shuizhou
authors: S
authors: Cai
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000032:analysis; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006873:Hydroquinones / Q000032:analysis; D007435:Intrauterine Devices, Copper; D007477:Ions; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D020959:Polyethylene / Q000737:chemistry*; D016062:Porosity; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D006873:Hydroquinones; D007477:Ions; C019359:2,5-di-tert-butylhydroquinone; C007650:ethyl acetate; D003300:Copper; D020959:Polyethylene