The Influence of Hydroxyapatite and Calcium Carbonate Microparticles on the Mechanical Properties of Nonwoven Composite Materials Based on Polycaprolactone

Abstract

Composite polycaprolactone fibers at different mass fraction (0.025, 0.05, and 0.075) of incorporated calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and hydroxyapatite (HA) microparticles were produced by electrospinning. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the fiber sheets revealed that the average diameter of the as-spun fibers increases with increasing of filler content assuming into account defects connected with embedding microparticles. At highest content of inorganic fraction (0.075) of HA and CaCO3, a considerable amount of defects, notches, and beads in the fibers were observed. The Young’s modulus (E) and the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the composites increased with addition of mass fraction of HA and CaCO3 microparticles. Regression analysis of mechanical properties of binary composites (polymer matrix/filler) was done, and as a result, the approximate equation for mechanical parameter prediction of nonwoven materials was obtained.