Molybdenum disulfide nanosheet/polyimide composites with improved tribological performances, surface properties, antibacterial effects and osteogenesis for facilitating osseointegration.

Polymeric biocomposites display some advantages over metal or ceramic biomaterials, and are regarded as a promising candidate for artificial joint application. Herein, molybdenum disulfide (MD) nanosheets were prepared and incorporated into polyimide (PI) to form MD/PI composites with a MD content of 20 wt% (PM20) and 40 wt% (PM40). The results revealed that incorporation of MD nanosheets obviously improved the tribological performances, surface properties ( e.g. , roughness, wettability and surface energy) and protein absorption of the composites, which enhanced with the increase of MD content. In addition, the composites containing MD nanosheets exhibited antibacterial effects, and the antibacterial effects of PM40 were higher than those of PM20 and PI. PM40 significantly stimulated the cellular responses of rat bone mesenchymal stem cells in vitro , which was better than PM20 and PI. Furthermore, PM40 remarkably accelerated osteogenesis and osseointegration in vivo , which was better than PM20 and PI. In summary, the MD content in composites played pivotal roles in improving not only tribological performances, surface properties, antibacterial effects and cellular response in vitro but also osteogenesis and osseointegration in vivo . As a result, PM40 with high MD content exhibited excellent osteogenic bioactivity and antibacterial effects, which would have great potential for artificial joint applications.