Omigbodun Francis T, Oladapo Bankole I
Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK.
The Manufacturing Technology Centre, Coventry CV7 9JU, UK.
Biomimetics (Basel). 2024 Oct 23;9(11):651. doi: 10.3390/biomimetics9110651.
This study explores the enhancement of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) matrix using calcium hydroxyapatite (cHAP) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for developing composite scaffolds aimed at bone regeneration applications. The PLA composites were fabricated through solvent evaporation and melt extrusion and characterized by various techniques, including thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and mechanical testing. The incorporation of cHAP and rGO significantly improved the thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties of the PLA matrix. Mechanical testing revealed that adding 10% cHAP and varying amounts of rGO (0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%) enhanced tensile and compressive strengths, with the highest improvements observed at 0.5% rGO content. Thermal analysis showed increased thermal stability with higher degradation temperatures for the composites. Spectroscopic analyses confirmed the effective integration of cHAP and rGO into the PLA matrix with characteristic peaks of the fillers identified in the composite spectra. In vitro, degraded action tests in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) at pH 7.4 over 12 months indicated that composites with higher rGO content exhibited lower mass loss and better mechanical stability. Furthermore, finite element analysis (FEA) simulations were performed to validate the experimental results, demonstrating a strong correlation between simulated and experimental compressive strengths. This novel approach demonstrates the potential of PLA/cHAP/rGO composites in creating effective and biocompatible scaffolds for tissue engineering, providing a comprehensive analysis of the synergistic effects of cHAP and rGO on the PLA matrix and offering a promising material for bone regeneration applications.
本研究探索了使用羟基磷灰石（cHAP）和还原氧化石墨烯（rGO）增强聚乳酸（PLA）基体，以开发用于骨再生应用的复合支架。通过溶剂蒸发和熔融挤出制备了PLA复合材料，并采用热重分析（TGA）、差示扫描量热法（DSC）、傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）、扫描电子显微镜（SEM）和力学测试等多种技术对其进行表征。cHAP和rGO的加入显著改善了PLA基体的热性能、力学性能和形态性能。力学测试表明，添加10%的cHAP和不同含量的rGO（0.1%、0.3%、0.5%）可提高拉伸强度和抗压强度，在rGO含量为0.5%时改善最为显著。热分析表明，复合材料的热稳定性提高，降解温度更高。光谱分析证实cHAP和rGO有效地融入了PLA基体，在复合光谱中识别出了填料的特征峰。在体外，在pH 7.4的磷酸盐缓冲盐水（PBS）中进行的12个月降解作用测试表明，rGO含量较高的复合材料质量损失较低，力学稳定性较好。此外，进行了有限元分析（FEA）模拟以验证实验结果，结果表明模拟抗压强度与实验抗压强度之间存在很强的相关性。这种新方法证明了PLA/cHAP/rGO复合材料在创建用于组织工程的有效且生物相容的支架方面的潜力，全面分析了cHAP和rGO对PLA基体的协同作用，并为骨再生应用提供了一种有前景的材料。
