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Structure and blood compatibility of highly oriented PLA/MWNTs composites produced by solid hot drawing
Li, Z. Zhao, X. Ye, L. Coates, Philip D. Caton-Rose, Philip D. Martyn, Michael T.
Li, Z.
Zhao, X.
Ye, L.
Coates, Philip D.
Caton-Rose, Philip D.
Martyn, Michael T.
Publication Date
2014-02-12
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© 2014 The Authors. Full-text reproduced in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy.
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2013
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Abstract
Highly oriented poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) composites were fabricated through
solid hot drawing technology in an effort to improve the mechanical properties and blood biocompatibility of PLA as
blood-contacting medical devices. It was found that proper MWNTs content and drawing orientation can improve the
tensile strength and modulus of PLA dramatically. With the increase in draw ratio, the cold crystallization peak became
smaller, and the glass transition and the melting peak of PLA moved to high temperature, while the crystallinity increased,
and the grain size decreased, indicating the stress-induced crystallization of PLA during drawing. MWNTs showed a
nucleation effect on PLA, leading to the rise in the melting temperature, increase in crystallinity and reduction of
spherulite size for the composites. Moreover, the intensity of (002) diffraction of MWNTs increased with draw ratio,
indicating that MWNTs were preferentially aligned and oriented during drawing. Microstructure observation
demonstrated that PLA matrix had an ordered fibrillar bundle structure, and MWNTs in the composite tended to
align parallel to the drawing direction. In addition, the dispersion of MWNTs in PLA was also improved by orientation.
Introduction of MWNTs and drawing orientation could significantly enhance the blood compatibility of PLA by prolonging
kinetic clotting time, reducing hemolysis ratio and platelet activation.
Version
Accepted Manuscript
Citation
Li Z, Zhao X, Ye L, Coates PD, Caton-Rose PD and Martyn MT (2014) Structure and blood compatibility of highly oriented PLA/MWNTs composites produced by solid hot drawing. Journal of Biomaterials Applications. 28(7): 978-989.
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Article