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Polyethylene/TiO 2 Medical Tube with Comprehensive Mechanical Performances via Bio‐Mimic Multiscale Helical Structures
Author(s) -
Pi Lin,
Shi Yan,
Nie Min,
Li Yijun
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of vinyl and additive technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.295
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1548-0585
pISSN - 1083-5601
DOI - 10.1002/vnl.21755
Subject(s) - materials science , flexibility (engineering) , extrusion , tube (container) , composite material , polyethylene , nanotechnology , mathematics , statistics
Microtubes with superior mechanical properties are highly desired in modern medical applications due to its convenience in drug delivery and micro invasive surgery. However, poor kink resistance is still a changeling issues because the high axial orientation is inevitable in conventional tube processing procedure. Herein, with combination of rotation extrusion technology and antibacterial titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) fibers, a bio‐mimic helical structure consisting of molecular chains, shish kebabs, and fibrous TiO 2 was successfully manipulated. With assistance of helical structure, kink resistance was enhanced without sacrifice the flexibility. The hoop twist strength reached 15.7 MPa, 45% higher than the conventional ones, while axial compressive strength decreased from 9.4 to 7.9 MPa, exhibiting good flexibility. Moreover, further structural analysis demonstrated that the deviated molecular chains and shish kebabs played a predominating role in enhancing kink resistance of the PE tubes rather than rigid TiO 2 fibers, which could provide more theoretical and experimental fundament for design of future medical tubes.