The Effect of Halloysite Nanotubes and Mult Wall Carbon Nanotubes on the Mechanical Properties of Poly (Methyl Methacrylate) Denture Base Nanocomposites

Abstract

Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin is a popular material for denture bases due to its aesthetic properties and ease of processing, but it does have limitations in terms of its mechanical properties. PMMA resin is a brittle material and has low impact strength and fatigue resistance, which means that it is prone to cracking, chipping, and other forms of damage over time, especially when subjected to repeated stress or impact. The process of fabricating denture base composites involves using PMMA powder, benzoyl peroxide as a polymerization initiator, and a mixture of nanotube-treated fillers (multi-walled carbon nanotubes and halloysite nanotubes) as the reinforcing fillers. The fabrication process involves mixing the PMMA powder and treated nanotube fillers together with a “liquid component that contains methyl methacrylate and ethylene glycol Di methacrylate. The addition of a mixture of MWCNTs and HNTs into the PMMA denture base composite significantly improved the mechanical properties of the base composite, such as the flexural strength of 109.1MPa, flexural modulus of 3.62GPa, and tensile strength of 64.4MPa when compared to a pure PMMA matrix (G1); the Vickers hardness improvement was only 18.93kg/mm2. Therefore, the introduction of HNTs/MWCNTs mixture into PMMA is a potential way of improving the mechanical properties of PMMA denture bases (P < 0.05), which can have positive implications for their durability, wear resistance, and overall performance.