Hydroxyapatite and Er2O3 are embedded within graphene oxide nanosheets for high improvement of their hardness and biological responses
A novel nanocomposite hydroxyapatite (HAP)/Er2O3/graphene oxide (GO) is synthesized to be suggested for bone replacement applications. HAP/Er2O3/GO is analyzed with XRD, FTIR, and XPS scan to prove the uniform distribution of HAP and Er2O3 within the GO sheet. TEM graphs illustrate the morphological alteration that occurred upon combining HAP and Er2O3 with GO sheets. The ternary composite shows an average diameter of 8-16 nm and length of 20–40 nm for HAP and a diameter of 4 nm for Er2O3. The SEM graphs showed the uniform distribution of HAP and Er2O3 particles over the GO sheets with a diameter of 0.3 μm for HAP and 0.4 μm for Er2O3. In addition, the roughness average (Ra) of the triple nanocomposite is 9.85 } 0.40 nm. Further, HAP/Er2O3/GO cell viability is 96.9 } 1%. Furthermore, its antibacterial activity shows a maximum value of 14.9 } 1.9 mm against E. coli and 14.4 } 1.4 mm against S. aureus. Moreover, HAP/Er2O3/GO obtained the maximum value in the hardness study of 5.3 } 0.4 GPa. Therefore, HAP/Er2O3/GO shows a noticeable enhancement in surface roughness and hardness parameters as well as exhibiting antibacterial properties. Besides, the improvement in cell viability consequently enhances biocompatibility and bioactivity. Hence, HAP/Er2O3/GO composition is a promising bone implant material for bone replacement applications.