Abstract

The idea of hydroxyapatite (HAp) precipitation on functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) introduces a new aspect of bone tissue engineering. Based on this idea, a mechanical model is developed for predicting effective Young’s modulus and tensile strength of a representative volume element of a tip functionalized CNT reinforced HAp. Results of this study show that there is an increase in fracture toughness of the HAp-CNT composite compared to that of HAp-collagen, i.e. natural bone. However, natural bone, showing quasi-brittle behaviour, undergoes microcracking under everyday normal physiological load which stimulate bone remodeling process to stop propagation of microcracks and finally make new bones at the affected areas, as a toughening mechanism. Knowing that CNT reinforcement increases bone fracture toughness and so would decrease microcracks production, another aspect of this research is addressing if the CNT-HAp composite is better than HAp-collagen from a bone remodelingpoint of view.