Preparation and Mechanical Properties of PLGA/β-TCP Composites

Abstract

Poly(lactide-co-glycolide)/β-Tricalcium Phosphate (PLGA/β-TCP) composites were successfully prepared via solution dispersion method. Laser particle size analyzer (LPSA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SEM were used to characterize β-TCP powder. The mechanical properties of composites were carried out by the three-point-bending test, and the morphologies of cross-section of composites were observed using SEM. The results indicate that both the bending strength and modulus of composites increased with β-TCP amount of up to 10 wt%, then decreased gradually, indicating the change of fracture mode with the variation of β-TCP content. PLGA/β-TCP would be an ideal and promising biomaterial for internal fixation devices.

Keywords:

• β-TCP
• Characterization
• Composite
• PLGA
• Preparation

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Scientific Research Foundation for Ph.D. from Guilin University of Technology, and the Innovation Team of Guangxi Universities' Talent Highland, and the Foundation of Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University, China.