Chitosan and multi-walled carbon nanotube composite rods

Abstract

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and chitosan (CS) composite rods with layer-by-layer structure were prepared via in situ precipitation method. On the one hand, some MWNTs fragments with open tips played the role of nuclear agent to improve the crystallinity of CS. On the other hand, MWNTs embedded in CS matrix to absorb energy when the composite rods were destroying. Nanotubes pulled out from CS matrix, and lots of holes remained, so MWNTs could endure external stress effectively. The bending strength and bending modulus of CS/MWNTs rods (100/0.5, W/W) arrived at 130.7 MPa and 4.4 GPa respectively, increased by 34.3% and 7.3% compared with those of pure CS rods. Consequently, CS/MWNTs composite rods with excellent mechanical properties could be a novel device used for bone fracture internal fixation.