Abstract
High Density Polyethylene ( HDPE) is being widely used as a bearing material for the artificial hip and knee joints. Weak surface properties of HDPE limit the total hip artificial joints survival life. The addition of nanofillers is expected to improve the surface and bulk behavior of the bearing materials that require thorough investigation. In this work, Multi Wall Carbon Nanotubes ( MWCNT) and Montmorillonite ( P-801, MMT) Nanoclay have been used as a reinforcement of HDPE. This work was undertaken to examine the effect of different ratios of ( MWCNT) and Nanoclay on nanomechanical and physical behavior and the stromal cells attachment, proliferation, on HDPE as a bearing material. The X ray Diffraction patterns of the nanocomposites showed that addition did not affect the chemical nature/structure of the nanocomposite. The FTIR results indicated that addition of MMT did not affect the functional properties of the composite. The nano-mechanical behavior results showed an improvement in nano-hardness and nano-modulus by about 10% due to the addition of nano-additives. The in vitro tests results showed that the MWCNT and Nanoclay ( additives) are not toxic to the stromal cells and there are no dead cell found rather all attached cells were alive. Finally, it can be concluded that the prepared HDPE/MWCNT/Nanoclay appear to have a good mechanical and biological behavior which, enables it to be a suitable candidate as a total joint replacement bearing material.