Incorporation of Treated Woven Carbon Fiber to Methacrylate Resin for Heat-Cured Acrylic Denture Composite

This research has studied the addition effect of woven carbon fiber treated with NaOH and coated by β- TCP to the conventional polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). Two stages are involved in the preparation of heat-cured acrylic denture composite. The first chemical treatment of woven carbon fiber (WCF) surface by different concentrations of NaOH (0.10, 0.15, and 0.20 M) and coating carbon fiber with β-TCP by various weight fractions (0.08, 0.10, and 0.12 wi) were carried out. The second stage includes the reinforcement of denture base material by treated and coated WCF. The functional groups of the WCF surface before and after alkali treatment were studied by FTIR. The morphology of the WCF surface before and after alkali treatment was observed by FESEM, the diameter of pores on the untreated and treated fibers, and the adhesion of β-TCP powder to the fiber was also observed. Mechanical tests include: impact strength (I.S.) and flexural strength (F.S) were calculated using a three-point bending test with a universal test machine and a Charpy impact test machine, respectively. From the result, reinforcing PMMA with treated and coated WCF improves the mechanical properties (impact and flexural strength).