Purpose: Human bone suffered some degeneration due to age and accidents; therefore, there are many interests in the prepared synthetic bone with properties nearer to natural bone. The present study prepared a nanocomposite of polypropylene reinforced with different weight fraction of Nano hydroxyapatite (HAp) to be used as a bone replacement with good biological properties that enhanced the growth of osteoplastic cells and enhance the prevention of clots and coagulates creation. Design/methodology/approach: Nanocomposite from polypropylene reinforced with different weight fraction of Hydroxyapatite (HAp) (1,2 and 3) % prepared by first dispersion Nano hydroxyapatite insolvent and then mixing with a pellet of polypropylene by the twinscrew extrusion process, the current research study the surface properties ( atomic force microscopy (AFM), contact angle test) Moreover, it studied the characteristics of prepared nanocomposite materials (Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR)). Findings: The AFM results show the surface roughness decreased with increasing content of HAp, which diminished the chance of creation clots and coagulates on it. The contact angle results referred to polypropylene behaviour transformed from hydrophobic to hydrophilic with addition HAp that permission to grow the osteoplastic cell on it, so the healing process is accelerated. Moreover, the FE-SEM images revealed uniform distribution and good bonding between polypropylene and Hydroxyapatite. The thermal properties were measured by the DSC test showed the melting temperature, and the enthalpy of melting (indicated to increase the crystalline structure per cent) are increased with increasing the percentage of Hydroxyapatite. Research limitations/implications: This research studied the characteristics of nanocomposite materials prepared by three steps (dispersion by ultrasonic device, manually mixed and melting and mixing by twin extruder) which can be used as a bone replacement. However, the main limitation was the uniform distribution of nano-hydroxyapatite within the matrix. In a further study, the cytotoxic test can be tested to study the effect of prepared nanocomposite on living cells’ growth. Practical implications: The interest object is how to connect among different properties to prepared bone replacement with good properties and biocompatibility that made able to stimulate the growth and healing process. Originality/value: The nano-hydroxyapatite is a biomaterial that has a composition similar to the natural mineral phase of the bone and does not have any negative effect, which enhanced the growth of osteoplastic cells and decreased the clots and coagulates creation; therefore, nano-hydroxyapatite is used to decrease the surface roughness which decreased the chance of coagulation creation and to enhance the hydrophilic properties.

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Purpose: The number of people suffering from Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) is increasing. The disease causes heavy pain and restrict a number of day-to-day life activities. In extreme cases, the degraded disc is removed under total disc replacement which is usually made up of Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE). The material has astounding biocompatible characteristics mechanical properties and wear resistance. However, these characteristics are insufficient in arthroplasty application. Therefore, research investigations are ongoing to improve tribological properties through reinforcement that may result in a composite material of UHMWPE. Thus the current study is aimed at reinforcing UHMWPE with short fibres of polyesters to enhance the tribological properties and surface characteristic so as to improve wear resistance and nourish the fibroblast cells on synthetic disc. Design/methodology/approach: The researcher prepared UHMWPE composite material, reinforced with different weight fractions of short polyester fibres (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10% following hot press method. Further pin-on-disc device was used to study the tribological properties (coefficient of friction and volume of wear). The study tested surface roughness and surface characteristics by atomic force microscopy (AFM) device, hardness by shore D device, contact angle to study the effect of polyester short fibres on wettability of UHMWPE surface and tested the thermal properties and crystalline degree using Differential Scanning Calorimetry measurement (DSC) device. Findings: The results infer that the wear resistance got improved when using 2% w.t polyester though it got decreased initially. However, the value was still more than neat UHMWPE. There was a decrease observed in coefficient of friction, but after 4 w.t% polyester, the coefficient of friction got increased due to increasing percentage of fibres which make it harder and stiff compared to UHMWPE. There was a decline observed in surface roughness due to alignment of the fibres with smooth surface. The contact angle got increased in a moderate range while the roughness enhanced the growth of fibroblast cell. The hardness of composite material got increased, because the fibres turned stiffer and harder than the matrix. DSC results infer the improvements in thermal stability due to high thermal properties of polyester fibres compared to UHMWPE. The degree of crystallinity got increased which in turn enhanced wear resistance, especially at 6 w.t % polyester fibres. There was a mild increase observed in density since the density of polyester is higher than polymer. Research limitations/implications: The major challenge was the dispersion of fibres. Uniform distribution of fibres within the matrix (UHMWPE) was achieved through two steps of mixing processes such as mechanical mixture and twin extruder. In future studies, fatigue tests must be conducted to study the behaviour of prepared composite materials under fatigue cycle. Practical implications: A significant objective is how to connect among different properties to obtain good improvement in tribological and surface properties so as to enhance wear resistance and growth of fibrolase cells. Originality/value: In this study, polymeric short fibres were used as reinforcement with polymeric matrix to enhance the wettability of fibres with matrix. In this way, the bonding among them got increased which supports the tribological, surface, and crystalline behaviour.

This study deals with using nano-SiO2 to enhance the characteristics of PVA for food packing applications. Thin-film of Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/nano-silica (nano-SiO2) was prepared by adding different weights of silica (0, 5, 7, 9) wt. %. Differential scanning calorimetry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), FTIR, and mechanical properties such as tensile strength, modulus, elongation at break, and micro-hardness used to examine the characteristics of PVA/nano-SiO2 films. The results revealed a dramatic improvement in the PVA/nano-SiO2 mechanical properties, increasing nano-SiO2 content to 7 wt %, the value of tensile strength increasing from 62 MPa to 143 MPa. While increasing SiO2 content to 9 wt.%, the tensile strength decreased to 65 MPa. The study also showed that the value of elongation at break and modulus of elasticity of film increment with increases in the nano-SiO2 content. There was also an increase in the crystallinity from 0.97 (for pure PVA) to 1.154 at 7wt. % nano-SiO2. Crystallinity, however, decreased to 0.012 with the increase of SiO2 to 9 wt. %. FTIR results revealed that there was physical interaction between nano-SiO2 and PVA. AFM result showed less roughness at 7wt. % from nano-SiO2. Generally, the results showed that the concentration of 7% of the nano –SiO2 in thin films resulted in a significant improvement in the mechanical properties of the films. These findings suggest that nano-SiO2 can be useful as food packaging material to maintain food quality.