Mechanical, thermal and morphological characterisation of 3D porous Pennisetum purpureum/PLA biocomposites scaffold

Abstract

The mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties of a 3D porous Pennisetum purpureum (PP)/polylactic acid (PLA) based scaffold were investigated. In this study, a scaffold containing P. purpureum and PLA was produced using the solvent casting and particulate leaching method. P. purpureum fibre, also locally known as Napier grass, is composed of 46% cellulose, 34% hemicellulose, and 20% lignin. PLA composites with various P. purpureum contents (10%, 20%, and 30%) were prepared and subsequently characterised. The morphologies, structures and thermal behaviours of the prepared composite scaffolds were characterised using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The morphology was studied using FESEM; the scaffold possessed 70-200μm-sized pores with a high level of interconnectivity. The moisture content and mechanical properties of the developed porous scaffolds were further characterised. The P. purpureum/PLA scaffold had a greater porosity factor (99%) and compression modulus (5.25MPa) than those of the pure PLA scaffold (1.73MPa). From the results, it can be concluded that the properties of the highly porous P. purpureum/PLA scaffold developed in this study can be controlled and optimised. This can be used to facilitate the construction of implantable tissue-engineered cartilage.

Biocompatibility of Developing 3D-Printed Tubular Scaffold Coated with Nanofibers for Bone Applications

“…From the infrared spectra absorption, a slight difference could be seen between all samples. Moreover, these results are supported and in agreement with several studies that used FTIR to investigate the structural features of printing samples before and after extrusion and to analyze if the PLA filament does not contain any significant contaminants [23,[30][31][32][33].…”

Effect of moisture exposure and elevated temperatures on impact response of Pennisetum purpureum/glass-reinforced epoxy (PGRE) hybrid composites

“…Similarly, Dhakal et al studied the influence of temperature on the impact damage in jute/polyester [28]. [8,30,31]. However, the effect of moisture exposure and elevated temperatures on the low-energy impact of PGRE composites has yet to be examined.…”

“…Natural fibre composites typically use plant-based fibres, such as kenaf, jute, sisal, hemp, flax, and more recently Pennisetum purpureum or also locally known as Napier grass fibre [3][4][5][6][7][8].…”

Plasma Surface Polymerized and Biomarker Conjugated Boron Nitride Nanoparticles for Cancer-Specific Therapy: Experimental and Theoretical Study

“…After the grafting of FA, the intensity of peak at 1096 cm −1 (C-C-(O)-C groups) noticeably increased and additional peaks at 2961 cm −1 (C-H 3 ) and 1020 cm −1 (C-OH stretching) were observed. The pronounced peak at 1096 cm −1 can be explained by the contribution of C-C bending from folic acid [42][43][44]. To obtain an activated FA derivative (product B), carbodiimide was added to folic acid (stage 3 in Figure 2).…”