Biomimetic three-dimensional carbon fiber reinforced polymer hydroxyapatite nanocomposite for major load bearing orthopedic application

We report a novel biomimetic three-dimensional carbon fiber reinforced polymer hydroxyapatite nanocomposite having mechanical compressive strength (~116 MPa) and elastic modulus (~1.9 GPa) for load bearing orthopedic application. The synthetic route is very simple cost effective biomimetic process. It does not require any binder/porogen for the synthesis of mechanically strong porous nanocomposite. Physicochemical properties of synthesized nanocomposite are systematically characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM and Universal Testing Machine. It revealed that only small fraction of carbon fiber increased the compressive strength (~116 MPa) and elastic modulus (~1.9 GPa) by 11-12 folds from unreinforced polymer hydroxyapatite nanocomposite (compressive strength~ 12MPa, Elastic modulus~ 0.33 GPa). Copyright © 2018 VBRI Press.