Abstract
The efficacy of defective sites in MWCNTs as free radical scavengers was investigated on the basis of thermal analysis of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)/MWCNTs and UHMWPE/\(\gamma \)-MWCNTs nanocomposites. Homogenized composites of polyethylene (PE) with MWCNTs and \(\gamma \)-MWCNTs (0.5% by weight) were prepared by the ball milling process for 2 h at a speed of 200 rpm. Thereafter, micron-sized sheets were prepared (by hot pressing) and subjected to \(\gamma \)-dose ranging from 25 to 150 kGy. To investigate the thermal properties and thermal stability, differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements were performed in an inert atmosphere. The results showed that peak melting temperature (\(T_{\mathrm{m}})\) and lamellae thickness (\(L_{\mathrm{c}})\) remained unaltered for UHMWPE/MWCNTs composites; however, for UHMWPE/\(\gamma \)-MWCNTs composites the values varied from 138 to \(141^{\!\circ }\hbox {C}\). This behaviour was attributed to chain scission close to crystalline lamellae due to radiation-induced free radicals, thus reducing the percentage of inter-phase contents within the polymer matrix and enhancing the percentage crystallinity for composites. Furthermore, TGA revealed the higher thermal stability of composites as compared with pristine ones and significant increase in residues percentage for composites, i.e., from \(\sim \) 3 to 7%. These results confirmed the importance of defective sites within the MWCNTs as free radical quenchers, and stopping the chain scission, particularly close to crystalline lamellae, thus preventing loss of the important interphase region of UHMWPE.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Kurtz S M, Muratoglu O K, Evans M and Edidin A A 1999 Biomaterials 20 1659
Simis K S, Bistolfi A, Bellare A and Pruitt L A 2006 Biomaterials 27 1688
Hofsté J M, Voorn B and Pennings A J 1997 Polym. Bull. 38 485
Martínez-Morlanes M J, Medel F J, Mariscal M D and Puértolas J A 2010 Polym. Test. 29 425
García-Rey E and García-Cimbrelo E 2010 J. Orthopaed. Traumatol. 11 67
Mehmood M S, Hafeez-Ullah, Jahan M S, Mishra S, Walters B M and Ikram M 2012 Polym. Sci. Ser. A 54 343
Slouf M, Synkova H, Baldrian J, Marek A, Kovarova J, Schmidt P et al 2008 J. Biomed. Mater. Res. Part B: Appl. Biomater. 85B 240
Sobieraj M C and Rimnac C M 2009 J. Mech. Behav. Biomed. Mater. 2 433
Panin S V, Kornienko L A, Nguen Suan T, Ivanova L R, Korchagin M A, Shil’ko S V et al 2015 J. Frict. Wear 36 249
Sreekanth P S R and Kanagaraj S 2014 Bull. Mater. Sci. 37 347
Heisel C, Silva M, dela Rosa M A and Schmalzried T P 2004 J. Bone Joint Surg. 86 748
Galetz M C, Blaß T, Ruckdäschel H, Sandler J K W, Altstädt V and Glatzel U 2007 J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 104 4173
Kolanthai E, Bose S, Bhagyashree K S, Bhat S V, Asokan K, Kanjilal D et al 2015 Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 17 22900
Minkova L 1994 Colloid Polym. Sci. 272 115
Sattari M, Mirsalehi S A, Khavandi A, Alizadeh O and Naimi-Jamal M R 2015 J. Therm. Anal. Calorim. 122 1319
Mehmood M S, Yasin T, Jahan M S, Mishra S R, Walters B M, Ahmad M et al 2013 Polym. Degrad. Stab. 98 1256
Bracco P and Oral E 2010 Clin. Orthopaed. Relat. Res.® 469 2286
Oral E and Muratoglu O K 2010 Int. Orthopaed. 35 215
Wolf C, Maninger J, Lederer K, Frühwirth-Smounig H, Gamse T and Marr R 2006 J. Mater. Sci.: Mater. Med. 17 1323
Shafiq M, Mehmood M S and Yasin T 2013 Mater. Chem. Phys. 143 425
Martínez-Morlanes M J, Castell P, Alonso P J, Martinez M T, and Puértolas J A 2012 Carbon 50 2442
Mehmood M S, Jahan M S, Yasin T, Tariq M, Choudhry M A and Ikram M 2015 J. Spectrosc. 2015 1
Safibonab B, Reyhani A, Nozad Golikand A, Mortazavi S Z, Mirershadi S and Ghoranneviss M 2011 Appl. Surf. Sci. 258 766
Dhotel A, Rijal B, Delbreilh L, Dargent E and Saiter A 2015 J. Therm. Anal. Calorim. 121 453
Gao Y, Choudhury N R, Dutta N, Shanks R and Weiss R 2003 J. Therm. Anal. Calorim. 73 361
Fandaruff C, Araya-Sibaja A M, Pereira R N, Hoffmeister C R D, Rocha H V A and Silva M A S 2013 J. Therm. Anal. Calorim. 115 2351
Rudnik E and Dobkowski Z 1997 J. Therm. Anal. 49 471
Sobhi H, Matthews M E, Grandy B, Masnovi J and Riga A T 2008 J. Therm. Anal. Calorim. 93 535
Kurtz S M, Villarraga M L, Herr M P, Bergström J S, Rimnac C M and Edidin A A 2002 Biomaterials 23 3681
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the technical and moral support provided by PIEAS, Islamabad, and UET Taxila, Pakistan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mukhtar, S.S., Mehmood, M.S., Maqbool, S.A. et al. Effect of \(\gamma \)-irradiation on the thermal properties of UHMWPE/MWCNTs nanocomposites: a comparative study of incorporating unmodified and \(\gamma \)-ray-modified MWCNTs. Bull Mater Sci 41, 10 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12034-017-1525-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12034-017-1525-7