title: Effect of ceramic filler content on the mechanical and thermal behaviour of poly-L-lactic acid and poly-L-lactic-co-glycolic acid composites for medical applications.
abstract: One main application of resorbable poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) and poly-L-lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) based materials is in medical implants. In this study composites were made from PLLA and PLGA with hydroxyapatite (HAp) respective beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) fillers. The filler content and particle size were varied, and the thermal properties as well as the mechanical strength of the composites were investigated. The composites were made by an extrusion compounding process giving 2-2.5 mm diameter sized profiles. The results verified that the thermal stability of the composites was reasonable during the optimized compounding conditions. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the fillers were well dispersed in the polymer matrices. The mechanical properties were improved by the addition of the fillers. The optimum mechanical properties for the extruded profiles were obtained with the HAp fillers. The E-modulus was increased from 3.3 to 4.6 GPa by addition of filler particles (30 wt%) whereas the flexural strength was reduced from 133 to 106 MPa.
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, University of Borås, Allegatan 1, 501 90, Borås, Sweden.
authors.forename: Behzad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Damadzadeh
authors.forename: Hamideh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jabari
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Skrifvars
authors.forename: Karri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Airola
authors.forename: Niko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Moritz
authors.forename: Pekka K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Vallittu
mesh_terms: D002516:Ceramics; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011091:Polyesters; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid; D019344:Lactic Acid; C033616:poly(lactide)