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Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Composites: Metal and Ceramic ...

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222j 8 Conclusions<br />

increase in Vickers indentation fracture toughness (2.35 MPa m 1/2 ) <strong>and</strong> 49% increase<br />

in flexural strength (79 MPa) compared with bulk monolithic HA having toughness<br />

of 0.72 MPa m 1/2 <strong>and</strong> strength of 53 MPa. Despite the fact that the in situ CVD<br />

technique produces an improvement in mechanical properties, the use of transition<br />

metal catalysts (e.g. Ni, Fe, Co, etc.) for CNTsynthesis could have a negative effect on<br />

human health, particularly use of nickel. As reported, CNTs have excellent biocompatibility,<br />

but they may cause toxicity to human skin <strong>and</strong> lungs. The risk of human<br />

organ exposure to CNTs during nanotube synthesis <strong>and</strong> composite fabrication is ever<br />

increasing [43, 44]. Therefore, extensive biocompatibility <strong>and</strong> toxicological assessments<br />

of HA/CNTnanocomposites must be performed prior to their implantation to<br />

human body.<br />

Lie et al. used prepared HA/3 wt%MWNT nanocomposites by wet powder mixing<br />

method followed by cold isostatic pressing <strong>and</strong> pressureless sintering at 1100 Cin<br />

different environments (air, argon <strong>and</strong> vacuum) for 3 h [33]. They reported that<br />

sintering the powder compacts of HA <strong>and</strong> MWNT in vacuum environment yields<br />

higher bending strength <strong>and</strong> fracture toughness than those sintered in air or argon.<br />

This is because sintering in vacuum eliminates pores in the nanocomposite specimen.<br />

The bending strength <strong>and</strong> fracture toughness of vacuum <strong>and</strong> argon sintered<br />

HA/3 wt%MWNTnanocomposite are 66.11 MPa <strong>and</strong> 2.40 MPa m 1/2 <strong>and</strong> 61.43 MPa,<br />

<strong>and</strong> 0.761 MPa m 1/2 , respectively. The nanocomposite specimens were then implanted<br />

into the muscle of big white rats for biocompatibility testing. For the purpose<br />

of comparison, ZrO2/HA composite samples were also implanted into the muscle of<br />

rats. Because of its high strength <strong>and</strong> stress-induced phase transformation toughening,<br />

zirconia has been used to strengthen HA. The ZrO2/HA composite has been<br />

used as a coating material for biomedical implants [39, 40]. Figure 8.4(a) <strong>and</strong> (b) <strong>and</strong><br />

Figure 8.5(a) <strong>and</strong> (b) show representative pathology micrographs of the HA/MWNT<br />

<strong>and</strong> ZrO2/HA composites after short term implantation into muscle of rats. It<br />

is apparent that the inflammatory cell response in tissue is more serious for the<br />

ZrO2/HA composite after implantation for one <strong>and</strong> three days. This implies that the<br />

Figure 8.4 Tissue responses of (1) HA/MWNT <strong>and</strong> (b) ZrO2/HA<br />

composite specimens after implantation into muscle of rats for<br />

one day. Reproduced with permission from [33]. Copyright Ó<br />

(2007) Elsevier.

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