Fabrication and mechanical evaluation of hydroxyapatite polylactic acid (HA/PLA) nanocomposites using hot pressing

In the present study, hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles were incorporated into a bioabsorbable polylactic acid (PLA) composite to form HA/PLA nanocomposites using a hot pressing process. The objective of this combination was to improve mechanical strength. In this fabrication method, polymer was completely dissolved in methylene chloride and combined with HA using mechanical mixing and sonication. The HA/PLA solution was then dried and hot-pressed uniaxially into specimens for three point bending evaluation. Three point bending results from hot pressed samples indicated flexural strength increased with more hydroxyapatite mass fraction by 25.8% with 5 wt% to 143.6 MPa. Furthermore, the HA nanoparticles’ mass fraction, up to 25 wt%, was examined, and demonstrated an increase in modulus up to 4 GPa, a 150% increase. From this test, the influence of HA nanoparticles, using a hot pressingprocess, has shown improvement to the HA/PLA nanoparticles by improving the HA/PLA nanocomposite’s flexural strength, flexural modulus, and the material’s viability for orthopedic fixation application.

Keywords:

Hot pressing , Hydroxyapatite , Nancomposite , Polylactic acid