Melt processing and characterization of tricalcium phosphate filled polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate/polymethyl methacrylate composites for biomedical applications

Abstract

PBAT/PMMA/MA/TCP composites were prepared by melt blending and characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM and in vitro bioactivity studies using SBF and cell viability tests. SBF studies revealed good bioactivity nature which was observed in SEM and confirmed by EDAX. Cell viability test revealed an excellent viability of squamous cells within 2?h than the control. Soil burial tests of the composites show fast degradation within 50 days under natural conditions. The tensile and hardness properties is marginally increased than that of PBAT/PMMA blend. These biocomposites can be used for the fabrication of medical devices by melt blending and injection molding process.     

Hydrolytic degradation of poly(l‐lactic acid)/poly(methyl methacrylate) blends

The hydrolytic degradation of poly(l ‐lactic acid)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PLLA/PMMA) blends was carried out by the immersion of thin films in buffer solutions (pH = 7.24) in a shaking water bath at 60 °C for 38 days. The PLA/PMMA blends (0/100; 30/70; 50/50; 70/30; 100/0) were obtained by melt blending using a Brabender internal mixer and shaped into thin films of about 150 µm in thickness. Considering that PMMA does not undergo hydrolytic degradation, that of PLLA was followed via evolution of PLA molecular weight (recorded by size exclusion chromatography), thermal parameters (differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)) and morphology of the films (scanning transmission electron microscopy). The results reveal a completely different degradation pathway of the blends depending on the polymethacrylate/polyester weight ratio. DSC data suggest that, during hydrolysis at higher PMMA content, the polyester amorphous chains, more sensitive to water, are degraded before being able to crystallize, while at higher PLLA content, the crystallization is favoured leading to a sample more resistant to hydrolysis. In other words, and quite unexpectedly, increasing the content of water‐sensitive PLLA in the PLLA/PMMA blends does not mean de facto faster hydrolytic degradation of the resulting materials. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry     

An Innovative Approach to the Synthesis of PMMA/PEG/Nanobifiller Filled Nanocomposites with Enhanced Mechanical and Thermal Properties

A facile route was adopted to blend the matrix. The PMMA/PEG blend was reinforced with three types of nanofillers, i.e., pristine MWCNT (P-CNT), amine functionalized MWCNT (PDA-EA-CNT) and nanobifiller i.e. nanodiamond functional MWCNT (PDA-EA-CNT-ND) to yield three different types of nanocomposites i.e. PMMA/PEG/P-CNT, PMMA/PEG/PDA-EA-CNT and PMMA/PEG/PDA-EA-CNT-ND. These nanocomposites were reinforced with nanofiller loading (1 wt. %, 3 wt. %, 5 wt. %, 10 wt. %, 30 wt. % and 50 wt. %) by solution casting method. Structure of composite and nanofillers was confirmed by FTIR. FESEM imaging revealed that nanocomposites have micro porous morphology. At high magnification, distribution of functionalized CNT/ND appears to be protruding out of the polymeric matrix. The TGA result suggests that the thermal stability of the nanocomposites was enhanced in comparison to PMMA due to grafting of filler molecules with PMMA/PEG macromolecules. The DTG results showed that the bifiller nanocomposites (PMMA/PEG/PDA-EA-CNT-ND) exhibited improved thermal stability with T_max (431^°C) as compared to P-CNT and amine functionalized CNT (PMMA/PEG/PDA-EA-CNT) with T_max of 395^°C and 418^°C respectively. XRD results showed fine interaction between filler and the polymeric matrix. As the filler loading was increased the composites showed pronounced XRD peak at 25.9^°, corresponding to (002) reflection of nanotubes. Significant improvement in the mechanical properties of composites was recorded with the reinforcement of fillers as compared to the neat matrix. The most significant improvement in tensile strength and elastic modulus was observed for the bifiller nanocomposites with 5 wt. % PDA-EA-CNT-ND. They showed a tensile strength and elastic modulus of 29.9 MPa and 1474.31 MPa respectively as compared to amine functionalized CNT with tensile strength (25.7) and elastic modulus (1466.99 MPa)and P-CNT with tensile strength(25 MPa) and elastic modulus (1155.75 MPa).     

The suppression of dark current for achieving high-performance Ga2O3 nanorod array ultraviolet photodetector

Gallium oxide (Ga₂O₃) is a promising candidate for next-generation solar-blind photodetectors (PDs) because of its large bandgap of 4.9 eV. Its single-crystal nanorod structure improves its photoelectric performance, which promotes carrier transformation and separation. However, Ga₂O₃ nanorods fabricated by the hydrothermal method have many oxygen vacancies, which largely enhance the dark current and reduce the on/off ratio of PDs, restricting application of such devices. Therefore, in this paper, dual strategies are applied to reduce the dark current of a metal–semiconductor–metal-structured Ga₂O₃ nanorod PD fabricated by the hydrothermal method. Through these dual strategies, which include annealing treatment and the application of a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) coating, the dark current of the PD is reduced from 1.34 × 10^?7 to 2.04 × 10^?9 A at 1 V, resulting in the on/off ratio of the PD reaching as high as 3.24 × 10⁴. Besides, the responsivity and detectivity of the device reach 1.73 A/W and 2.53 × 10¹² Jones respectively, which represents better performance than those of other reported Ga₂O₃ nanorod array PDs. Results have shown that the new strategy adopted can greatly improve the performance of Ga₂O₃-based ultraviolet photodetectors.     

Biocompatible electrospun tactic poly(methyl methacrylate) blend fibers

Uniform and beads free fibers of pristine syndiotactic PMMA (s-PMMA), isotactic PMMA (i-PMMA), and their blends in the ratio of s:i = 3:1, 1:1 and 1:3 were successfully prepared using the electrospinning technique. The tactic PMMA blend fibers showed unique thermal stability and glass transition temperatures compared to their pristine counterparts. An interesting endotherm peak was observed for the s:i = 1:3 electrospun fibers, which might indicate a complex formation between the two tactic PMMAs. Systematic surface functionalities study by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) revealed the interactions between these two tactic PMMAs. Biocompatibility of tactic PMMA and their blend fibers was first time comparably investigated using HeLa as the model mammalian cell line; an intriguing observance was first revealed that the blend fibers showed better biocompatibility than both pristine ones, though the behind mechanism is not well understood yet.     

Electroactive phases of poly(vinylidene fluoride): Determination,processing and applications

Poly(vinylidene fluoride), PVDF, and its copolymers are the family of polymers with the highest dielectric constant and electroactive response, including piezoelectric, pyroelectric and ferroelectric effects. The electroactive properties are increasingly important in a wide range of applications such as in biomedicine, energy generation and storage, monitoring and control, and include the development of sensors and actuators, separator and filtration membranes and smart scaffolds, among others. For many of these applications the polymer should be in one of its electroactive phases. This review presents the developments and summarizes the main characteristics of the electroactive phases of PVDF and copolymers, indicates the different processing strategies as well as the way in which the phase content is identified and quantified. Additionally, recent advances in the development of electroactive composites allowing novel effects, such as magnetoelectric responses, and opening new applications areas are presented. Finally, some of the more interesting potential applications and processing challenges are discussed.     

聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯/Laponite复合材料制备及表征

通过溶剂交换法将Laponite从水中转移到N,N二甲基乙酰胺(DMAC)中,辅助以超声波作用使Laponite与聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯(PMMA)溶液进行共混复合制备PMMA/Laponite复合材料,并表征其相关性能。     

基于细乳液聚合法TiO2/PMMA纳米复合粒子的制备及其性能

采用细乳液聚合法制备了二氧化钛/聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯（TiO2/PMMA）纳米复合粒子,考察了引发剂、助乳化剂、乳化剂、单体结构和种类对TiO2/PMMA纳米复合粒子性能的影响。结果表明与十二醇和十六醇相比,十六烷（HD）更能抑制甲基丙烯酸甲酯（MMA）液滴的Ostwald熟化效应,当MMA占TiO2质量分数的60%,HD对单体质量分数的6%,可聚合乳化剂1-烯丙氧基-3-(4-壬基苯酚)-2-丙醇聚氧乙烯(10)醚硫酸铵（DNS-86）占整个体系的质量分数为2%时,制备TiO2/PMMA纳米复合粒子分散体的粒径为185nm,此时TiO2/PMMA纳米复合粒子与细乳液粒径差距较小;采用TiO2/PMMA纳米复合粒子制备白色涂料墨水的稳定性和遮盖力明显优于同等条件下TiO2所制备的涂料墨水。     

A systematic study of maghemite/PMMA nano-fibrous composite via an electrospinning process: Synthesis and characterization

In this study, maghemite/PMMA nano-fibrous composites have been successfully fabricated by using the electrospinning process. PMMA nano-fibres have been selected to be used as the matrix; the PMMA was dissolved in three diverse solvents (Acetone, THF and DMF) in order to obtain fine PMMA nano-fibres. As a result, the PMMA–DMF proved to be the most appropriate polymer solution among the three solvents, with its impressive defect-free surface morphology results. The production of maghemite using Massart’s procedure resulted in nano-particles with an average diameter of 4.98 ± 0.13 nm (using transmission electron microscopy (TEM)). Maghemite nano-particle were then mixed with a prepared polymer solution in order to fabricate maghemite/PMMA nano-fibrous composite. Furthermore, the investigation of the morphology and structure of the composite was carried out using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Energy-dispersion X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Alternating Gradient Magnetometer (AGM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and tensile strength measurement devices. The results indicated that there was a great amount of maghemite, both in and on the composite’s surface, which can be utilized in the purpose of magnetic applications.     

纳秒脉冲下温度、频率对尼龙6电老化的影响

尼龙6作为绝缘材料经过长时间运行后,绝缘性能会受老化的影响而劣化。目前对此类绝缘材料的研究多集中在常温和工频下,在ns脉冲条件下的研究较少。为了研究温度、频率对尼龙6中电树枝引发的影响,实验采用了固态ns脉冲发生器MPC50D为激励源,其具有30 ns的下降沿和70 ns的脉冲宽度;使用温度循环实验箱SP-80U控制实验温度。实验的温度设定为-40~60℃,频率设定为20~1 500 Hz。实验结果表明:温度对尼龙6中的电树枝引发电压有明显的影响,随温度的升高电树枝引发电压下降明显;频率对电树枝的影响并不明显,只在200 Hz以下出现了较明显的趋势;尼龙6、聚四氟乙烯(PTFE)和有机玻璃(PMMA)中的电树枝形态差异巨大,尼龙6中为丛林形,PTFE中为树枝形,PMMA中为层裂形;ns脉冲下击穿通道出现了放电引发的扇形结构。实验数据为尼龙6在ns脉冲下的绝缘应用提供了参考。