Characterization of Polyester Base-K2CO3 Composite Used for Biomedical Applications

Unsaturated polyester resin is used widely in the field of biomedical applications such as implants or part of implant systems. In spite of good biological properties of such polymer, it still has problems associated when implanted in the living body, first: its low mechanical properties. Second: when degradation starts, the by- product will cause the tissue irritation and inflammation as well as systematic injury at the site of operation leading to failure in the performance of the implant. The present work is focused on the use of ceramic carbonate salt filler to improve some of the mechanical and physical properties of unsaturated polyester resin base composite, and regulating its by-product when degradation takes place by choosing alkaline ceramics. A particulate composite material was prepared by adding (K2CO3) ceramic particles with particle size of ( 53 μm) to unsaturated polyester resin with weight fraction of (0.3- 1.8) wt. %. Some of Mechanical and physical tests were used to evaluate the prepared composite material, which involved ultimate tensile strength, impact energy, hardness and water absorption %. The results had revealed that the maximum values of (tensile strength, hardness, impact energy and water absorption%, were (56.885 N/mm2 at 0.3% wt., 86.4 Shore D at 1.5% wt., 0.43J at 0.9% wt. and 0.9831% at 15%wt.) respectively compared to reference values, i.e. (37.4742 N/mm2, 84 Shore D,0.33 J and 0.263%) respectively. These results reveals an improvement in the tested mechanical properties when (K2CO3)added to the unsaturated polyester resin compared to the reference, while an increase in water absorption was clearly observed with (K2CO3) filler addition.