Effects of TiO2 and GO nanoparticles on the thermomechanical properties of bioactive poly-HEMA nanocomposites

Bioactive polymeric nanocomposites are indispensable materials and have received great attention owing to their diverse applications in human body. In this study, a poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) complex was prepared using hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) as a base material and trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TMPTA) and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as cross-linking agents. The pHEMA nanocomposites were prepared by melt processing technique. In this process, a twin screw extruder machine was used. Twin screw extrusion is used extensively for mixing, compounding, or reacting polymeric materials. The flexibility of twin screw extrusion equipment allows this operation to be designed specifically for the formulation being processed. The nanocomposites of pHEMA/TiO2 and pHEMA/TiO2/GO were synthesized using pHEMA as a matrix with the addition of a small amounts of titanium oxide nanoparticles (TiO2 1 wt%) and graphene oxide (GO 0.1 wt%) as reinforcement materials. The thermomechanical study of pHEMA/TiO2 and pHEMA/TiO2/GO nanocomposites was carried out via thermogravimetric (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), micro-indentation, micro-scratch, and FTIR analyses, and compression testing. The microstructural characterization of the nanocomposites was studied by FESEM and XRD analysis. Significant changes in microstructural behavior with improved thermomechanical properties were observed in pHEMA/TiO2 and pHEMA/TiO2/GO nanocomposites as compared to pure pHEMA. In this work, pure pHEMA and pHEMA/TiO2 and pHEMA/TiO2/GO nanocomposites were studied for dental applications.