Comparison of mechanical and thermal properties of acrylic resin reinforced with nano -clay and conventional acrylic resin

Abstract

Poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) is the commonly used material for the fabrication of removable prosthesis. The mechanical and thermal properties of PMMA that used should be reinforced. This study aims to compare mechanical and thermal properties of acrylic resin reinforced with nano-clay and conventional acrylic resin. Materials and Methods: Ninty-six samples of acrylic resin including four groups (n=24) were fabricated: a control group of conventional PMMA and three experimental groups with different percentages of closite 20 A nano-clay (0.5, 1, and 2%) mixed with PMMA. Flexural strength, tensile strength, impact strength, and thermal conductivity tests were conducted on acrylic samples. Kolmogorov-Smirnov was utilized for assessing normal distribution of data and one-way ANOVA was used for mean comparison. For pair-wise comparisons Scheffe post-hoc was used. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Increasing the percentage of nano-clay in PMMA improved the thermal conductivity but impaired flexural and tensile strengths (P<0.05). Adding nano-clay to PMMA did not alter its impact strength (P>0.05). Conclusions:Based on the findings of this study, adding nano-clay to PMMA improved its thermal conductivity but worsened mechanical properties.