Effect of iron doped hydroxyapatite nanoparticles on the structural, morphological, mechanical and magnetic properties of polylactic acid polymer

Iron doped hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (FeHA NPs) were successfully prepared and the solution casting technique was used to fill the polymeric matrix of polylactic acid (PLA) with different mass fractions of FeHA NPs. The absorption spectra of FT-IR spectroscopy demonstrated that FeHA NPs were linked with PLA via hydrogen bond formation between OH of Ca(OH)(2) and oxygen atoms in the ester group in PLA and new peaks appeared. XRD analysis confirmed the presence of FeHA NPs within PLA by showing its characterizing phases and demonstrated that the degree of crystallinity was enhanced for nanocomposite with low content of FeHA NPs. The SEM micrograph showed aggregations of FeHA NPs for nanocomposite with high content. The results of mechanical characterization evidenced that inclusion of FeHA NPs with 10 wt.% would represent an effective reinforcement associated with a high value in both the elastic modulus and tensile strength. The super-paramagnetic behavior for the PLA nanocomposites, indicated by a very low coercive field, was confirmed by the results of magnetic measurements. The PLA nanocomposites showed a high antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria. Thus, the prepared PLA nanocomposites could be tailored for many biomedical applications. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.