Mechanical and in vitro biological performance of graphene nanoplatelets reinforced calcium silicate composite

Mehdi Mehrali*, Ehsan Moghaddam, Seyed Farid Seyed Shirazi, Saeid Baradaran, Mohammad Mehrali, Sara Tahan Latibari, Hendrik Simon Cornelis Metselaar, Nahrizul Adib Kadri, Keivan Zandi, Noor Azuan Abu Osman

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

60 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Calcium silicate (CaSiO3, CS) ceramic composites reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) were prepared using hot isostatic pressing (HIP) at 1150°C. Quantitative microstructural analysis suggests that GNP play a role in grain size and is responsible for the improved densification. Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy showed that GNP survived the harsh processing conditions of the selected HIP processing parameters. The uniform distribution of 1 wt.% GNP in the CS matrix, high densification and fine CS grain size help to improve the fracture toughness by ~130%, hardness by ~30% and brittleness index by ~40% as compared to the CS matrix without GNP. The toughening mechanisms, such as crack bridging, pull-out, branching and deflection induced by GNP are observed and discussed. The GNP/CS composites exhibit good apatite-forming ability in the simulated body fluid (SBF). Our results indicate that the addition of GNP decreased pH value in SBF. Effect of addition of GNP on early adhesion and proliferation of human osteoblast cells (hFOB) was measured in vitro. The GNP/CS composites showed good biocompatibility and promoted cell viability and cell proliferation. The results indicated that the cell viability and proliferation are affected by time and concentration of GNP in the CS matrix.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere106802
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume9
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Sept 2014
Externally publishedYes

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