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Zirconia-MWCNT nanocomposites for biomedical applications obtained by colloidal processing

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Abstract

Zirconia ceramics are widely used as femoral heads, but case studies show that delayed failure can occur in vivo due to crack propagation. The addition of carbon nanotubes (CNT) is aimed to avoid the slow crack propagation and to enhance the toughness of the ceramic material used for prostheses. However, to really enhance the mechanical properties of the material it is necessary to achieve a uniform distribution of the CNT in the zirconia matrix. Colloidal processing has demonstrated to be suitable for obtaining ceramic-based composites with homogeneous distribution of the phases and high green density. This work compares the colloidal behavior of the as-received multi wall carbon nanotubes (ar-MWCNT) and the partially coated MWCNT (pc-MWCNT) when immersed in a nanozirconia matrix. With pc-MWCNT an improvement in the dispersion is proved. Moreover, the sintered samples that contain pc-MWCNT show higher density, lower grain size, improved toughness and enhanced hardness under the same sintering cycle when compared to the samples with ar-MWCNT.

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Acknowledgments

Supported by Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (project CIT-420000-2008-7 and Ramón y Cajal fellowship, RYC-2008-03523), Basque Government (PI-2004-2, BF105.R2.555 and Etortek: Nanomaterials).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unidad de Salud, INASMET-TECNALIA, Paseo Mikeletegui 2, Parque Tecnológico, 20009, San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain

    N. Garmendia & I. Obieta

  2. Ciber-BBN, San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain

    N. Garmendia & I. Obieta

  3. Instituto de Cerámica y Vidrio, CSIC, C/Kelsen 5, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    I. Santacruz & R. Moreno

  4. Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Cristalografía y Mineralogía, Universidad de Málaga, 29071, Málaga, Spain

    I. Santacruz

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  1. N. Garmendia
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  2. I. Santacruz
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  3. R. Moreno
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  4. I. Obieta
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Correspondence to N. Garmendia.

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Garmendia, N., Santacruz, I., Moreno, R. et al. Zirconia-MWCNT nanocomposites for biomedical applications obtained by colloidal processing. J Mater Sci: Mater Med 21, 1445–1451 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-010-4023-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-010-4023-7

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