Effect of artificial saliva on the mechanical and tribological behavior of nano-/micro-filled biocomposite materials for biomedical applications

Abstract

Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of artificial saliva storage time of composite materials with different filler structure (micro/nanofiller) on the mechanical and tribological behavior. Material and Method: Mechanical and tribological behaviors of composite materials were investigated with storage in artificial saliva for the control group, 1 day, and 7 days. Composite materials were subjected to direct contact wear tests (80 N wear force, 100.000 wear cycles, 1.8 Hz wear frequency, and 37°C ambient temperature) with a computer-controlled dual-axis abrasion device. The surface hardness of composite materials after each artificial saliva test procedure was determined using the Vicker's Hardness method. Results: In this study, it was concluded that the waiting process in artificial saliva increases the tribological behavior of the composite material. Conclusion: However, for the composite test materials in this study considered, correlations between the contact-wear resistance and surface hardness were found to be statistically insignificant.