Liang Chen

Publications (2)5.04 Total impact

• Article: BisGMA/TEGDMA dental nanocomposites containing glyoxylic acid-modified high-aspect ratio hydroxyapatite nanofibers with enhanced dispersion.

  Liang Chen, Changqi Xu, Yong Wang, Jian Shi, Qingsong Yu, Hao Li
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: The purpose of this research was to investigate the influence of the glyoxylic acid (GA) modification of hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanofibers on their dispersion in bisphenol A glycidyl methacrylate (BisGMA)/triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) dental composites and also to investigate the mechanical properties, water absorption and water solubility of the resulting dental resins and composites. Scanning/transmission electron microscopy images showed that microsized HAP nanofiber bundles could be effectively broken down into individual HAP nanofibers with an average length of ∼15 µm after the surface modification process. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermal gravimetric analysis characterization confirmed that GA was chemically grafted on the HAP nanofiber surface, hypothetically by reacting with the amine group on the HAP nanofiber surface. The enhanced dispersion of HAP nanofibers in the dental matrix led to increased biaxial flexural strength (BFS) compared with the corresponding dental resins and composites filled with untreated HAP nanofibers. In addition, impregnation of small mass fractions of the GA-modified HAP nanofibers into the BisGMA/TEGDMA dental resins (5 wt%, 10 wt%) or composites (2 wt%, 3 wt%) could also substantially improve the BFS in comparison with the controls (pure resins or dental composites filled with silica particles alone). Larger mass fractions could not increase the mechanical property further or even degraded the BFS values. Water behavior testing results indicated that the addition of the GA-modified HAP nanofibers resulted in higher water absorption and water solubility values, which are not preferred for clinical application. In summary, well-dispersed HAP nanofibers and their dental composites with enhanced mechanical properties have been successfully fabricated, but the water absorption and water solubility of such dental composites need to be further improved.
  Biomedical Materials 06/2012; 7(4):045014. · 2.16 Impact Factor
• Article: BisGMA/TEGDMA dental composite containing high aspect-ratio hydroxyapatite nanofibers.

  Liang Chen, Qingsong Yu, Yong Wang, Hao Li
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: The objectives of this study are to investigate the properties of high aspect-ratio hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanofibers and the reinforcing effect of such fibers on bisphenol A glycidyl methacrylate (BisGMA)/triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) dental resins (without silica microparticle filler) and dental composites (with silica microparticle filler) with various mass fractions (loading rates). HAP nanofibers were synthesized using a wet-chemical method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). Biaxial flexural strength (BFS) of the HAP nanofibers reinforced dental resins without any microsized filler and dental composites with silica microparticle filler was tested and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for the statistically analysis of acquired data. The morphology of fracture surface of tested dental composite samples was examined by SEM. The HAP nanofibers with aspect-ratios of 600 to 800 can be successfully fabricated with a simple wet-chemical method in aqueous solution. Impregnation of small mass fractions of the HAP nanofibers (5 wt% or 10 wt%) into the BisGMA/TEGDMA dental resins or impregnation of small mass fractions of the HAP nanofibers (2 wt% or 3 wt%) into the dental composites can substantially improve the biaxial flexural strength of the resulting dental resins and composites. A percolation threshold of HAP nanofibers, beyond which more nanofibers will no longer further increase the mechanical properties of dental composites containing HAP nanofibers, was observed for the dental composites with or without silica microparticle filler. Our mechanical testing and fractographic analysis indicated that the relatively good dispersion of HAP nanofibers at low mass fraction is the key reason for the significantly improved biaxial flexural strength, while higher mass fraction of HAP nanofibers tends to lead to bundles that cannot effectively reinforce the dental resins or composites and may even serve as defects and thus degrade the resulting dental resin and composite mechanical properties. The incorporation of small mass fraction of HAP nanofibers with good dispersion can improve the mechanical property of dental resins and dental composites.
  Dental materials: official publication of the Academy of Dental Materials 09/2011; 27(11):1187-95. · 2.88 Impact Factor