WS₂ inorganic nanotubes reinforced poly(l-lactic acid)/hydroxyapatite hybrid composite biomaterials

Abstract

The present work reports on the incorporation of tungsten disulphide inorganic nanotubes (INT-WS 2 ) into poly(L-lactic acid)/hydroxyapatite (PLLA/HA) and their effects on the processability, morphology, biocompatibility, thermal, tribological and mechanical properties of the resulting nanocomposites. Binary PLLA/HA and ternary PLLA/HA/INT-WS 2 composites were successfully prepared using a conventional melt blending technique. Morphological analysis indicates that the incorporation of INT-WS 2 into PLLA/HA improves the dispersibility of the HA microparticles and reduces their mean size, resulting in a larger interfacial area. Additionally, INT-WS 2 can act as efficient nucleating agents as well as reinforcing fillers in PLLA/HA blends, thus remarkably enhancing their chemical and thermal stability, mechanical performance under dry and SBF conditions as well as tribological properties. The improvements are more pronounced in the hybrid nanocomposite with the highest HA content, likely due to a synergistic effect of both micro and nano-fillers on the matrix performance. Considering the good biocompatibility of the developed materials, the inexpensive synthetic process and the extraordinary properties of environmentally friendly INT-WS 2 , this work may open up opportunities to produce new biopolymer/ hydroxyapatite hybrid nanocomposites that are of great interest in bone tissue engineering applications.

Comparative study on the properties of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) -based nanocomposites containing multi-walled carbon (MWCNT) and tungsten disulfide (INT-WS2) nanotubes

“…One can find CNT to be thermally stable and exhibit high thermal conductivity of ~6600 W/m · K for SWCNT and 3000 W/m · K for MWCNT . Moreover, introduction of INT‐WS 2 into polymer matrix can enhance the thermal stability of the final material, because they have thermally inherent stability in nitrogen up to 800°C . When the thermally stable nanotubes (organic or inorganic) are dispersed in less stable polymer matrices, the thermal stability of the polymer composites can be improved depending on the concentration of nanoparticles.…”

Development and characterization of chitosan-grafted polycaprolactone / Poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-CO-3-hydroxyhexanoate) fiber blends for tissue engineering applications

“…The degradation rate is influenced by many parameters, namely the molecular weight, degree of crystallinity, spherulite size and level of porosity. PCL exhibits a weight loss of about 12% after 7 weeks, attributed to hydrolytic degradation of aliphatic ester linkages, a process that starts with a water uptake phase followed by random hydrolytic scission of the ester bonds [20]. Considerably higher weight loss is detected for neat CS (~38%), ascribed to its higher water uptake [10], whilst CS-g-PCL shows an intermediate value of about 23%.…”

The Effect of WS2 Nanosheets on the Non-Isothermal Cold- and Melt-Crystallization Kinetics of Poly(l-lactic acid) Nanocomposites

“…Additionally, 1D-WS 2 can act as an efficient nucleating agent as well as a reinforcing filler in PLLA/hydroxyapatite (HA) blends obtained by a conventional melt blending technique, thus remarkably enhancing their chemical and thermal stability, mechanical performance under dry and simulated body fluid (SBF) conditions as well as tribological properties. The improvements are more pronounced in the hybrid nanocomposite with the highest HA content, likely due to a synergistic effect of both micro and nano-fillers on the matrix performance [ 25 ]. On the other hand, the effects of 2D-WS 2 on the melt-crystallization and biodegradation of melt-processable PLLA nanocomposites have recently been investigated.…”