Improving the Properties of Cornstarch Based Green Composites Reinforced With Banana Fibers by Incorporating Polycaprolactone for Maxillofacial Bone Plates Fabrication

摘要

Great attention has been drawn towards the potential application of starch based biodegradable composites in the biomaterial field. The overarching goal of this study is to explore developing green cornstarch composites for the future usage in the fabrication of maxillofacial bone plates. Our previously developed materials using thermoplastic cornstarch matrix reinforced with banana fibers proved to provide reasonable strength (30 MPa). However, the biodegradability characteristics were not as good as the strength. It has been suggested in the literature that the poly (ε-caprolcatone) can improve the biodegradability of the developed material due to its hydrophobic characteristics. Therefore, in this study blends of glycerin plasticized cornstarch and poly (ε-caprolcatone) at different weight fractions were used as a matrix. Composites of this matrix reinforced with 50 wt.% pseudo stem banana fibers were prepared through compression molding at 5 MPa and 160 °C for 30 minutes. Several experiments have been conducted in order to investigate morphological, thermal and mechanical properties. Experimental results revealed that proper selection of the poly (ε-caprolcatone) weight fraction incorporated into the thermoplastic cornstarch matrix has significantly improved the biodegradability of these materials while maintaining the desired mechanical characteristics. Such improvement in the material characteristics qualifies the new formulated cornstarch composites to satisfy the requirements to use this material in making maxillofacial bone plates.