INVESTIGADORES
ABRAHAM Gustavo Abel
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Polymerization of e-caprolactone initiated by nano-hydroxyapatite with different thermal treatments
Autor/es:
M.A. GIARDINA; M.A. FANOVICH; G.A. ABRAHAM
Lugar:
Los Cocos, Córdoba
Reunión:
Simposio; V Simposio Chileno-Argentino de Polímeros, ARCHIPOL; 2009
Institución organizadora:
Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
Resumen:
Polymer
matrix composites are being increasingly studied for different
biomedical applications. Many composites have been considered as
bioresorbable materials for use in bone substitutes and regeneration
strategies. Recently, polymer/ceramic nanocomposites have gained much
recognition as scaffolds for bone tissue engineering not only due to
their composition and structural similarity with natural bone, but also
because of their unique functional properties. Ceramic particles
increase the mechanical properties of the resulting composites, being
suitable for orthopedic applications. Moreover, the bonelike inorganic
fillers influences the general properties of many synthetic polymers.
Hydroxyapatite (HA) is the most-used ceramic in biomedical composites
due to its bioactivity help in promoting bone-bonding properties.
Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a nontoxic, biodegradable and biocompatible
polyester widely proposed for use in tissue engineering scaffolding.
Thus, PCL/HA composites have demonstrated great potential in the biomedical field (Choi et al.,
2004). These composites are mainly prepared by incorporating the
ceramic particles into a polymeric solution. The resulting suspension
may then be dried under vacuum and shaped using different processing
techniques. Composites can also be obtained by mixing HA particles with
lactones or lactides before polymerization. The production of composites
requires a very good dispersion of the reinforcement bioactive
particles, ensuring that the particles are perfectly surrounded by the
matrix and not as agglomerates. It is well known that the interface
between inorganic phase and polymeric matrix plays a key role in the
mechanical properties of composites. In order to achieve a good
interfacial adhesion HA nanoparticles can be chemically bonded to
polymeric chains. Thus, hydroxyl groups of HA can initiate the
ring-opening polymerization of lactones or lactides and form HA
nanoparticles with grafted PCL chains (Helwig et al., 2001), (Hong et al., 2005).
The
aim of this study was to develop and characterize PCL/HA
nanocomposites, wherein the superficial OH groups of the HA
nanoparticles act as initiators of the polymerization reaction. The
effect of different thermal treatments of nano-HA powders on
polymerization of e-caprolactone was analized.