Development and characterisation of hybrid composite skin simulants based on short polyethylene fibre and bioactive glass particle-reinforced silicone.

Silicone elastomers are widely recognised as artificial skins for medical prosthesis and cranial injury assessment. Since silicone is not an ideal skin simulant due to the lack of mechanical stiffness and a fibrous structure, the present study aimed to tailor the mechanical and structural characteristics of silicone by integrating biocompatible reinforcements (namely, short polyethylene fibres and bioglass particles) to develop suitable bio-integrative skin simulant candidates. The influences of short polyethylene fibres and bioglass particles in the selected platinum silicone on the mechanical properties of silicone-based composite skin simulants were investigated with various factors, including filler concentration, KMnO surface treatment of the polyethylene fibre, and particle size.