Japanese male businessman who suffers back pain from working from home
The addition of vitamin E to polyethylene has shown promise in total hip arthroplasty. Which of the following is the main purpose of adding vitamin E to polyethylene?
Stabilize free radicals and prevent oxidative degradation
By stabilizing free radicals, vitamin E has been shown to prevent oxidative degradation and increase mechanical strength.
Eliminate the need for irradiation
Vitamin E does not eliminate the need for irradiation of polyethylene because it does not contribute to cross-linking.
Provide increased structural stability between polyethylene chains
Vitamin E acts to decrease free radicals. It does not provide increased structural stability between polyethylene chains.
Lower the annealing temperature to facilitate ease of production
Vitamin E has no effect on the annealing temperature, but one could argue that by helping stabilize free radicals it enables one to chose annealing as a processing method instead of remelting as a way to preserve mechanical properties. The purpose of adding vitamin E to polyethylene, however, is to stabilize free radicals.
