Zinc Matrix Composites Reinforced with Partially Unzipped Carbon Nanotubes as Biodegradable Implant Materials

Abstract

The activity of zinc is between that of magnesium and iron, and it has a suitable degradation rate and good biocompatibility. It has been regarded as a very promising biodegradable metal material for biomedicine. However, the insufficient mechanical properties of pure Zn limit its practical application in the field of orthopedic implants. In this paper, partially unzipped carbon nanotubes (PUCNTs) obtained by meridionally cutting multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were used as reinforcements and combined with spark plasma sintering to prepare partially unzipped carbon nanotube reinforced Zn matrix composites. The effects of PUCNT addition on the microstructure and the mechanical properties of Zn matrix composites were investigated. The microstructure analysis showed the good interface bonding between PUCNTs and the Zn matrix. Additionally, the strength of PUCNTs/Zn composites showed a trend of increasing first and then decreasing with the PUCNT content increases. When the PUCNT content was 0.2 wt%, the tensile strength and yield strength of composites were about 78.4% and 64.4% higher than that of pure Zn, respectively, while maintaining a high elongation (62.6%).

Keywords

• partially unzipped carbon nanotubes
• mechanical properties
• zinc matrix composites