Poly(styrene-co-methyl methacrylate)-silver/reduced graphene oxide-nano hydroxyapatite nanocomposites for bone cement applications

Abstract

Herein, we report (polystyrene-co-polymethylmethacrylate/silver/reduced graphene oxide)-(nano-hydroxyapatite) ((PS-PMMA/Ag/RGO)-(nHA)) nanocomposites as potential bone cement. The polymer nanocomposites were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), nano-indentation, thermal, and electron microscopic methods. The FT-IR and XRD results confirmed the successful formation of the nanocomposites. The elastic modulus (E) was found to be 6.85 GPa, and hardness (H) was 0.181 GPa for the nanocomposite bone cement samples, while the E and H values of commercial counterparts are 7.22 and 0.218 GPa, respectively. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) has revealed that the nanocomposite bone cement are stable up to 371 °C. The addition of nHA enhances the biocompatibility of bone cement. Cytotoxicity studies were conducted using human osteosarcoma MG63 cell lines. In-vitro studies showed that the material does not display any toxicity on the MG63 cell line, and increased concentration of nHA did not significantly impact the material’s toxicity, only impacting the curing kinetics of the cement.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Bone cement
• copolymer
• nanocomposites
• nano-hydroxyapatite
• reduced graphene oxide

Authors’ Contributions

Mohan Raj Krishnan: Conceptualization, data curation, methodology, writing – original draft. Shahla Alsoughayer: Data curation, formal analysis, data curation, software. Feven Mattews Michael: Software, writing – review, and editing. Edreese Alsharaeh: Conceptualization, project administration, writing – review and editing, funding acquisition.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data will be made available at the request of the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

This work is part of a research project, PIF AlfaHI initiative 726156. The authors gratefully acknowledge Alfaisal University and its Office of Research & Innovation for their continuous support throughout this study.