Biocomposite is a material that have potential to heal injured bones and teeth due to their biocompatible, non-toxic, non-inflammation, and bioactive properties which can prevent infections that occurs frequently during surgical processes. Biocomposites made of PLA, PCL, and HA from bovine bone as a substitute for metal materials in medical applications have been widely studied. However, there are limited studies on the biocomposites made of PLA, PCL, and HA from green mussel shells. Therefore, this study aims to produce biocomposites from Polylactic Acid (PLA), Polycaprolactone (PCL), and Hydroxyapatite (HA) from green mussel shells and to determine the effect of HA concentration on the mechanical properties and degradation rate of the resulting biocomposite. 80 ml of chloroform was used to dissolve 16 grams of a PLA/PCL mixture with a composition of 80% and 20%. After 30 minutes, the solution was agitated for 30 minutes with a magnetic stirrer at 50°C and 300 rpm. After obtaining a homogenous solution, hydroxyapatite was added in percentages of 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% of the total weight of the PLA/PCL mixture. The resulting mixture is poured into a glass mold in accordance with ASTM D790. Three-point bending, density, and biodegradable test were performed to investigate the effect of HA content on the mechanical properties and degradation rate of the biocomposite. The results of this study indicate that the mechanical properties of the biocomposite improved with the HA concentration increases. However, the more HA content used, the faster the biocomposite degrades.

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of studies conducted on the process of developing hydroxyapatite (HA) to use in biocomposites. HA can be derived from natural sources such as bovine bone. The HA usage obtained from green mussel shells in biocomposites in this study will be explored. The research goal is to investigate the composition effect of biomaterials derived from polycaprolactone (PCL), polylactic acid (PLA), as well as HA obtained from green mussel shells with a chemical blending method on mechanical properties and degradation rate. First, 80 mL of chloroform solution was utilized to immerse 16 g of the PLA/PCL mixture with the ratios of 85:15 and 60:40 for 30 min. A magnetic stirrer was used to mix the solution for an additional 30 min at a temperature and speed of 50 °C and 300 rpm. Next, the hydroxyapatite (HA) was added in percentages of 5%, 10%, and 15%, as well as 20% of the PLA/PCL mixture’s total weight. It was then stirred for 1 h at 100 rpm at 65 °C to produce a homogeneous mixture of HA and polymer. The biocomposite mixture was then added into a glass mold as per ASTM D790. Following this, biocomposite specimens were tested for their density, biodegradability, and three points of bending in determining the effect of HA and polymer composition on the degradation rate and mechanical properties. According to the findings of this study, increasing the HA and PLA composition yields a rise in the mechanical properties of the biocomposites. However, the biocomposite degradation rate is increasing.

Green mussel and crab shells are natural sources of CaCO3, which is widely used as a bioceramic for biomedical applications, although they are commonly disposed of in landfills. The improper disposal of green mussel and crab shells can cause environmental pollution, reducing the quality of life in the community. Many studies have reported the preparation of CaCO3 from green mussels and crab shells. However, there are limited studies comparing the characteristics, including the crystal phase obtained, weight percentage (%) of crystal, crystal size, crystal system, and elemental composition of CaCO3 from green mussel shells, crab shells, and commercial CaCO3. The objective of this research was to compare the calcium carbonate properties formed from green mussel (PMS) and crab (PCS) shells to commercial CaCO3. Green mussel and crab shells were crushed to powder and were calcined at 900 °C for 5 h. Precipitated Calcium Carbonate (PCC) was synthesized from calcined green mussel and crab shells using a solution of 2M HNO3, NH4OH, and CO2 gas. The effect of setting parameters on the synthesized product was analyzed using XRD and SEM-EDX methods. This study shows that the chemical composition of PMS is nearly identical to that of commercial CaCO3, where no contaminants were identified. In contrast, PCS has N components other than Ca, C, and O. Furthermore, the predominance of the vaterite crystal phases in PMS and PCS, with respective weight percentages of 91.2% and 98.9%, provides a benefit for biomaterial applications. The crystallite sizes of vaterite in PMS, PCS, and calcite in commercial CaCO3 are 34 nm, 21 nm, and 15 nm, respectively.

Biopolymers are utilized extensively in the medical field. The production of biodegradable bone screws for bone implants utilizing biopolymer materials is one of the advances developments. Polylactic acid (PLA) is a biopolymer frequently employed in medicinal applications. Using 3D printing, this research was done to create a biodegradable bone screw derived from PLA. The 3D printing process was chosen to reduce the cost and duration of bone repair. A nozzle temperature of 210oC and a bed temperature of 60oC are utilized in the production of biodegradable PLA screws. The torque test, fracture analysis, density test, and biodegradation test were utilized to characterize biodegradable bone screws. The results of this study will be compared with commercial biodegradable bone screws (BIOSURE HA). The findings of torsion tests indicate that commercially biodegradable bone screws have superior clamping quality than PLA-based biodegradable bone screws. The degradation rate of commercial biodegradable bone screws is greater than that of PLA-based biodegradable bone screws. In addition, commercial bone screws are denser than PLA-based biodegradable bone screws.

Chitosan has been broadly utilized in bone scaffold production because of its antibacterial qualities, low toxicity, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and ability to aid regeneration processes in wound healing. In this work, chitosan was produced from crab shell waste through demineralization, deproteination, and deacetylation, utilizing HCl 1:7 (v/v), NaOH 3%, 1:10 (v/w), and NaOH 50%. The aim of this study is to examine the deacetylation temperature’s impact towards the crystallinity index, chemical bond, degree of deacetylation, and morphology of chitosan synthesized. The deacetylation procedure was conducted for eight hours at temperatures of 100°C, 120°C, and 140°C. The synthesized chitosan was evaluated by utilizing XRD, FTIR, and SEM methods. According to the findings of this investigation, deacetylation at a temperature of 140 °C produced the highest degree of deacetylation, resulting in the highest quality chitosan. In addition, compared to other obtained chitosans, the shape of this result of synthesis is homogenous. At a deacetylation temperature of 140°C, the amounts of deacetylation degree, and crystallinity index of the chitosan were, in order, 81%, and 44%.