Gamma radiation effect on the chemical, mechanical and thermal properties of PCL/MCM-48-PVA nanocomposite films

Marcos Vinícius da Silva Paula; Leandro Araújo de Azevedo; Ivo Diego de Lima Silva; Carlos Alberto Brito da Silva Jr; Glória Maria Vinhas; Severino Alves Jr

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18091

Gamma radiation effect on the chemical, mechanical and thermal properties of PCL/MCM-48-PVA nanocomposite films

Heliyon. 2023 Jul 7;9(7):e18091. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18091. eCollection 2023 Jul.

Authors

Marcos Vinícius da Silva Paula¹, Leandro Araújo de Azevedo², Ivo Diego de Lima Silva³, Carlos Alberto Brito da Silva Jr⁴, Glória Maria Vinhas³, Severino Alves Jr²

Affiliations

¹ Faculdade de Engenharia de Materiais, Universidade Federal Do Pará, Ananindeua, 67113-901, Brazil.
² Laboratório de Terras Raras, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Pernambuco 50670-901, Brazil.
³ Departamento de Engenharia Química, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Pernambuco 50670-901, Brazil.
⁴ Faculdade de Física, Universidade Federal Do Pará, Ananindeua, 67113-901, Brazil.

Abstract

In this work, poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was employed to produce a Mesoporous Composition of Matter-48 Modified (MCM-48-M or MCM-48-PVA). After surface modification, MCM-48-M was used to produce nanocomposite (NC) films with polycaprolactone (PCL) as a matrix at room temperature. PCL and MCM-48 nanoparticles (NPs) were chosen due to their great biocompatibility and low toxicity. However, MCM-48-M is more compatible with PCL than MCM-48. NC films were sterilized by gamma radiation with a dose of 25 kGy and characterized by experimental techniques to investigate their chemical, mechanical (tensile) and thermal properties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) results indicated that MCM-48-M exhibited a random distribution in the PCL matrix. The PCL chemical structure was preserved in NC films as described by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy as well as the tensile and thermal properties of NC films. FT-IR and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results showed surface modification. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that crystalline symmetries were preserved and the crystallinity of NC films had small variations in all samples before and after irradiation, respectively. But, our results did not indicate major changes showing that this method is successful for the sterilization of PCL/MCM-48-PVA NC films.

Keywords: Chemical properties; Gamma radiation; MCM-48-M; Nanocomposite (NC) films; Polycaprolactone (PCL); poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA).