Advanced g-mps-pmma bone cements: Influence of graphene silanisation on fatigue performance, thermal properties and biocompatibility

Abstract

The incorporation of well-dispersed graphene (G) powder to polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA) bone cement has been demonstrated as a promising solution to improving its mechanicalperformance. However, two crucial aspects limit the effectiveness of G as a reinforcing agent: (1)the poor dispersion and (2) the lack of strong interfacial bonds between G and the matrix of thebone cement. This work reports a successful functionalisation route to promote the homogenousdispersion of G via silanisation using 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxy silane (MPS). Furthermore,the effects of the silanisation on the mechanical, thermal and biocompatibility properties of bonecements are presented. In comparison with unsilanised G, the incorporation of silanised G (G_MPS1and G_MPS2) increased the bending strength by 17%, bending modulus by 15% and deflection atfailure by 17%. The most impressive results were obtained for the mechanical properties underfatigue loading, where the incorporation of G_MPS doubled the Fatigue Performance Index (I) valueof unsilanised G-bone cement—meaning a 900% increase over the I value of the cement without G.Additionally, to ensure that the silanisation did not have a negative influence on other fundamentalproperties of bone cement, it was demonstrated that the thermal properties and biocompatibilitywere not negatively impacted—allowing its potential clinical progression.