Abstract
For various orthopedic needs, several studies have been testified on non-absorbable implants, prepared with different metals/alloys, and composites. But yet little has been stated on the partially absorbable smart implants of thermoplastic composites for online health monitoring of veterinary patients. This article highlights the in-house development of affordable, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite-based partially absorbable smart implants (with online sensing capability) for orthopedic needs in canines. Hydroxyapatite (HAp) and chitosan (CS) nanoparticles were reinforced in the PVDF matrix by a melt processing route with various weight proportions (wt.%) to fabricate a partially absorbable smart implant for the canine. The study suggests that the 8.0 wt.% HAp and 2.0 wt.% CS in PVDF is the superlative composition/proportion of reinforcement for preparing feedstock stock filaments (for 3D printing of partially absorbable smart implants), based on rheological, mechanical, thermal, dielectric, and voltage-current-resistance (V-I-R) characteristics. For the selected composition/proportion of PVDF composite, acceptable mechanical properties (such as modulus of toughness (MoT) 2.0 MPa, Young’s modulus (E) 889 MPa), and dielectric properties (dielectric constant (ε r ) 9.6 at room temperature (30°C) and 20 MHz) for online sensing capabilities (for health monitoring) was observed. The results are braced by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis.
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