Poly(ε-caprolactone)/graphene oxide biocomposites: mechanical properties and bioactivity

Wan, Chaoying and Chen, Biqiong (2011) Poly(ε-caprolactone)/graphene oxide biocomposites: mechanical properties and bioactivity. Biomedical Materials, 6 (5). 055010-055017. ISSN 1748-6041

Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)

Abstract

Biomedical applications of graphene have recently attracted intensive attention, with graphene-based nanomaterials being reported as promising candidates in, for example, drug delivery, biosensing and bioimaging. In this paper, mechanical properties and bioactivity of nanofibrous and porous membranes electrospun from graphene oxide (GO) nanoplatelets reinforced poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) were investigated. The results showed that the presence of 0.3 wt% GO increased the tensile strength, modulus and energy at break of the PCL membrane by 95%, 66% and 416%, respectively, while improving its bioactivity during biomineralization and maintaining the high porosity of over 94%. The mechanical enhancements were ascribed to the change in the fiber morphology and the reinforcing effect of GO on PCL nanofibers, whereas the improvements on the bioactivity stemmed from the anionic functional groups present on the GO surface that nucleated the formation of biominerals. Systematic studies on the PCL/GO nanocomposite films with varying GO concentrations revealed that the reinforcing effect of GO on PCL was due to the strong interfacial interactions between the two phases characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, the good dispersion of GO in the matrix and the intrinsic properties of GO nanoplatelets. The strong and bioactive PCL/GO nanofibrous membranes with a high porosity have great potential for biomedical applications.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Soft matter, liquids and polymers, fluid dynamics, condensed matter: electrical, magnetic and optical, medical physics, biological physics, nanoscale science and low-D systems
Subjects:	F100 Chemistry H700 Production and Manufacturing Engineering H800 Chemical, Process and Energy Engineering
Department:	Faculties > Engineering and Environment > Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering
Depositing User:	Ellen Cole
Date Deposited:	12 Dec 2011 13:47
Last Modified:	12 Oct 2019 19:07
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/4019

Downloads