Morphology of polycaprolactone/needle-shaped hydroxyapatite (PCL/HAN) nanocomposite blends using ultrasound assisted melt blending

2017 Global Conference on Polymer and Composite Materials

材料科学;化学

Akhbar, S.^1 ; Subuki, I.^1 ; Sharudin, R.W.^1 ; Ismail, M.H.^2

Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Shah Alam

40450, Malaysia^1

Centre for Advanced Materials Research (CAMAR), Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Shah Alam

40450, Malaysia^2

关键词: Blending process;    Bone scaffolds;    Field emission scanning electron microscopy;    High loadings;    Melt blending;    Nanocomposite blends;    Tissue engineering scaffold;    Ultrasound waves;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/213/1/012025/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1757-899X/213/1/012025

学科分类：材料科学（综合）

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

Polycaprolactone/Hydroxyapatite (PCL/HA) composite is an excellent material for fabricating tissue engineering scaffolds, especially as bone scaffolds. However, polarity differences between the hydrophilic HA and the hydrophobic PCL often leads to poor dispersion during the blending process. This is due to the tendency of the HA particles to agglomerate, and the difficulty to efficiently mix the polymer melt at high loading. The objective of this study is to introduce ultrasound waves during the conventional melt blending to overcome the problem. PCL and needle-shaped hydroxyapatite (HAN) were blended using an ultrasonically assisted extruder. The morphology of the PCL/HAN blend was investigated using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). This study found that the presence of ultrasound waves during melt blending was helpful in breaking up the HAN agglomerates. Thus, better dispersion of HAN was obtained, although some small agglomerates of HAN were still observed.