In-situ polymerisation of fully bioresorbable polycaprolactone/phosphate glass fibre composites: In vitro degradation and mechanical properties

Abstract

Fully bioresorbable composites have been investigated in order to replace metal implant plates used for hard tissue repair. Retention of the composite mechanical properties within a physiological environment has been shown to be significantly affected due to loss of the integrity of the fibre/matrix interface. This study investigated phosphate based glass fibre (PGF) reinforced polycaprolactone (PCL) composites with 20%, 35% and 50% fibre volume fractions (Vf) manufactured via an in-situ polymerisation (ISP) process and a conventional laminate stacking (LS) followed by compression moulding. Reinforcing efficiency between the LS and ISP manufacturing process was compared, and the ISP composites revealed significant improvements in mechanical properties when compared to LS composites. The degradation profiles and mechanical properties were monitored in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) at 37°C for 28 days. ISP composites revealed significantly less media uptake and mass loss (p<0.001) throughout the degradation period. The initial flexural properties of ISP composites were substantially higher (p<0.0001) than those of the LS composites, which showed that the ISP manufacturing process provided a significantly enhanced reinforcement effect than the LS process. During the degradation study, statistically higher flexural property retention profiles were also seen for the ISP composites compared to LS composites. SEM micrographs of fracture surfaces for the LS composites revealed dry fibre bundles and poor fibre dispersion with polymer rich zones, which indicated poor interfacial bonding, distribution and adhesion. In contrast, evenly distributed fibres without dry fibre bundles or polymer rich zones, were clearly observed for the ISP composite samples, which showed that a superior fibre/matrix interface was achieved with highly improved adhesion.

Exploiting poly(ɛ‐caprolactone) and cellulose nanofibrils modified with latex nanoparticles for the development of biodegradable nanocomposites

“…According to Fig. , the pure PCL matrix presents a flexural modulus and flexural strength of 705.3 ± 13.6 and 24.2 ± 0.6 MPa, respectively, in line with data reported elsewhere . The augment of the DP of the hydrophobic segment of the latex nanoparticles increased both the flexural modulus and flexural strength (Fig.…”

Microcompósitos de poliuretano contendo resíduo wet blue da indústria coureira, por polimerização in situ

“…Dessa forma, pode-se dizer que o método de polimerização in situ mostrou-se eficaz devido à dispersão das partículas no poliuretano, assim como Soares et al [26], que também citaram as modificações químicas de um compósito de poliuretano com sílica de cinzas de casca de arroz com este tipo de polimerização. Chen et al [27] realizaram testes em compósitos de PCL com fibra de vidro com base de fosfato e concluíram que por meio da polimerização in situ, as propriedades mecânicas melhoraram significativamente, além da obtenção da distribuição uniforme das cargas.…”

Phosphate glass fibres with therapeutic ions release capability – a review

“…PBG are not an exception, however PGF, because of their geometrical characteristics have been mainly studied for bone fixation devices. Numerous articles describe the advantages of using PGF in combination with resorbable polymers such as PLA, PCL or PLGA [17,43,44,50,51,55,58,59,62,90,[98][99][100][101] The aim is to obtain bone fixation devices with a modulus similar to that of natural bone, which also disappears completely after the healing process is completed. This disappearance will necessarily be associated with a decrease in mechanical properties that will be offset by the presence of newly formed bone.…”