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Self-exothermic esterification-crosslinking of bio-polymer/graphene composite for application in interbody fusion cage

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Abstract

The commercial interbody fusion cage is generally based on rigid materials (e.g. Ti metal, PEEK plastic and so on), resulting in discomfort and limiting the movement of vertebration for human. A new soft and elastic polymer composite is prepared by self-exothermic esterification-crosslinking method for application in interbody fusion cage. It is mainly composed of bio-polymer (e.g. PVA and Chitosan), hydroxyapatite and graphene nanosheets. The interbody fusion cage is fabricated by 3D printing and mould process from bio-polymer composite. The interbody fusion cage does not only show high elastic modulus (ca. 246.5 MPa), but also exhibits good compression elastic deformation (more than 15%), enhancing comfort of human. Furthermore, the interbody fusion cage can produce Ca ions and shows grade 1 (few reactivity) of cytotoxicity, indicating good osteoconductivity and biocompatibility. The work demonstrates the practical application of present bio-polymer/graphene composite in interbody fusion cage with comfort.

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Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants (51773184), Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi Province (Grant Nos. 201803D421081 and 20181102014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Technology, North University of China, Taiyuan, 030051, People’s Republic of China

    Kangtai Ou, Qingxiao Liu, Qiang Fu, Jiang Fan & Youyi Sun

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, 85 Jiefang Road, Taiyuan, 030001, Shanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaodong Liu

  3. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Qiang Fu

Authors
  1. Kangtai Ou
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  2. Qingxiao Liu
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  3. Xiaodong Liu
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Correspondence to Xiaodong Liu or Youyi Sun.

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Ou, K., Liu, Q., Liu, X. et al. Self-exothermic esterification-crosslinking of bio-polymer/graphene composite for application in interbody fusion cage. MRS Communications 13, 8–15 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-022-00296-0

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