Investigation of physical, mechanical, thermal, and tribological characterization of tricalcium phosphate and zirconia particulate reinforced dental resin composite materials

The proposed study aimed to fabricate and investigate the effect of nano tri-calcium phosphate and zirconia on the physico-mechanical, thermal, and tribological properties of hybrid dental resin composites. The organic matrix bisphenol a glycidyl methacrylate and triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (50/50 wt%) reinforced with yttria-stabilized zirconia (20 wt%) and tricalcium phosphate fillers (0–4 wt%) produced five dental composite series TZC0, TZC1, TZC2, TZC3, and TZC4. The density and water solubility gradually increased by adding fillers to the dental composite. The maximum water sorption (14.09 ± 3.04 μg/mm3) and water solubility (1.9 ± 0.02 μg/mm3) were indicated by TZC4. The maximum depth of cure was 3.50 ± 0.12 mm for TZC0. The maximum compressive strength exhibited by TZC4 was 41% more than TZC1. The hardness was proportional to the filler loading. The fourier transformed infrared spectra indicated the peak’s nano zirconia and tricalcium phosphate filler shifting at different wave numbers. The specific wear rate was measured on the Pin-on-disc wear test rig. The design of the experiment was performed using Taguchi L25 orthogonal array with four factors: normal load, filler wt%, sliding velocity, and time. The novel hybrid dental resin composite significantly affects mechanical, thermal, and viscoelastic properties.