Graphene/Nanohydroxyapatite hybrid reinforced polylactic acid nanocomposite for load-bearing applications

We studied polylactic acid (PLA) nanocomposite reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets (GNP)/Nanohydroxyapatite (NHA) hybrid prepared using the melt-mixing technique. Before mixing with the GNP, NHA was surface modified using 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES). The surface-modified NHA (mNHA) loading was constant at 5wt% while varying the GNP loading from 0.01–0.1wt%. Results show with 0.01 wt% GNP, the impact strength of the PLA/mNHA/GNP nanocomposite increased, tensile strength decreased, thermal stability, and viscoelastic properties improved significantly compared to neat PLA and PLA/mNHA. The FESEM images show the agglomeration of mNHA/GNP hybrid at higher loading (>0.05 wt%), leading to the deterioration of PLA/mNHA/GNP nanocomposite properties.