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Influence of MWCNTs and gamma irradiation on thermal characteristics of medical grade UHMWPE

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Abstract

Several techniques are available to characterize the influence of γ-irradiation on structural parameters of polymers; among which thermal characterization is more often used. The present work is aimed to study the influence of multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and γ-irradiation on polymer crystallinity, lamellar thickness, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and thermal stability of UHMWPE. The chemically treated MWCNTs were homogenously dispersed in UHMWPE using a ball milling machine and compression moulded to make the nanocomposites with different concentration of MWCNTs. The nanocomposites were then γ-irradiated at a dose rate of 2⋅5 kGy/h up to 25, 50, 75, 100 kGy irradiation doses. The results obtained from TGA studies revealed that the presence of MWCNTs improved the thermal stability and onset temperature of degradation of nanocomposites. The CTE of nanocomposites was decreased with an increase of MWCNTs concentration and irradiation dose. The reduction of thermal expansion of nanocomposites aids in minimizing the dimensional fluctuation of them. It is concluded that irradiation and the presence of MWCNTs in UHMWPE not only improved the thermal stability of the composites but also enhanced their crystallinity and lamellar thickness.

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Acknowledgements

Authors acknowledge the assistance received from Mr. N Naresh Kumar, IITG; Prof. J A O Simoes, University of Aveiro, Portugal; M/s Microtrol Sterilization Private Limited, Bangalore; and Central Instruments Facility and Materials science laboratory of IITG. Authors also acknowledge the funding support received from DST through a project IDP/Med/04/2009.

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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, 781 039, India

    P S RAMA SREEKANTH & S KANAGARAJ

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  1. P S RAMA SREEKANTH
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  2. S KANAGARAJ
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Correspondence to S KANAGARAJ.

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SREEKANTH, P.S.R., KANAGARAJ, S. Influence of MWCNTs and gamma irradiation on thermal characteristics of medical grade UHMWPE. Bull Mater Sci 37, 347–356 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12034-014-0640-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12034-014-0640-y

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