Graphene–Alumina Nanocomposites with Improved Mechanical Properties for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

This paper presents a study on graphene platelet (GPL)-reinforced alumina (Al2O3) ceramic composites and the relationships between the loading of GPL and both mechanical properties and in vitro biocompatibility. Al2O3 powders with different GPL contents were prepared and sintered using a gas protected pressure-less furnace. The examination of the results shows the density of the composites varying from 99.2% to 95.6% with the loading of GPL from 0.75 to 1.48 vol %. Raman studies show that moderate agglomerations of GPLs occur during the ball milling process and graphitic defects were produced during the high temperature processing. Mechanical properties of the Al2O3 matrix are significantly improved by adding GPLs. A maximum increase of approximately 60% in flexural strength and 70% in fracture toughness are achieved by introducing 0.75 vol % GPLs. In the biocompatibility tests, it was found that cells directly seeding on top of GPL/Al2O3 samples showed better initial attachment (3 h after seeding) and viability (3 days after incubation) than the monolithic Al2O3, indicating that the GPL/Al2O3 composites have comparable or more favorable biocompatibility. The excellent mechanical and biomedical properties of the GPL/Al2O3 composites may enable them to be applied to a wide range of engineering and biomedical applications.

Preparation and mechanical performance of graphene platelet reinforced titanium nanocomposites for high temperature applications

“…Graphene since discovered in 2004 has received enormous attention globally and its excellent electrical and mechanical properties make it a suitable candidate to be used in a variety of applications [20][21][22]. Compared to monolayer graphene, GPLs are stacked graphene with thickness of up to approximately 100 nm.…”

Recent Advances and Future Prospects in Spark Plasma Sintered Alumina Hybrid Nanocomposites

“…Fortunately, reinforcing alumina with a 0D, 1D, or 2D nanoscale phase has been found to be an effective practice for developing strong and tough alumina composites with unique functionalities [11]. In this regard, alumina was reinforced by many nanoscale phases, including SiC [12,13,14,15,16,17], ZrO 2 [18,19,20], CNT [21,22,23], and graphene [24,25,26,27,28].…”

Graphene platelet reinforced copper composites for improved tribological and thermal properties

“…Graphene receives tremendous attention extensively due to its excellent mechanical and functional properties. [17][18][19][20][21] Compared with traditional choices, e.g., CNT and carbon bre, graphene possesses many attractive features e.g., a extremely high strength, a low shear resistance, a relatively low cost and a comparably high thermal conduction and dissipation performance. 3,4 So far, few attempts were made to study the effects of graphene platelets (GPLs) on the tribological performance of Cu composites.…”