Effect of Graphene Oxide Nanoparticles on the Flexural Strength of all CeramicsAn In-vitro Study

Introduction: Desirable properties of monolithic ceramics like strength, stability at high temperatures, high stiffness has made it useful for biomedical, electronic, automotive, industrial, defence and space applications. The brittle nature and mechanical unreliability of monolithic ceramics limit their use.

Aim: To evaluate, if there is an increase in flexural strength of all ceramics incorporated with graphene nanoparticles.

Materials and Methods: This in-vitro study was conducted in the Department of Prosthodontics and Crown and Bridge, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, from February 2021 to April 2021, where 20 specimens of all ceramic dimensions of 20×5×3 (20 mm in length, 5 mm in width, 3 mm in thickness) according to American Dental Association (ADA) specification number 69, 1991 for flexural strength were grouped into group A (Control) with no Graphene Oxide (GO), group B with GO added. A universal testing machine with a cross head speed of 0.5 mm/min and a span length of 15 mm was used to load the specimen in the centre. To compare the flexural strength of the two groups, the Mann Whitney U-test was used. Normality was the data assessed using Shapiro-Wilk and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.

Results: The results show that there was a significant difference (p=0.001) in the mean flexural strength between the groups. Group B had the highest mean flexural strength of 562.61 MPa, while Group A had the lowest of 458.61 MPa.

Conclusion: The results concluded that, all ceramics incorporated with graphene nanoparticles showed superior flexural strength.