Improved mechanical performance of self-adhesive resin cement filled with hybrid nanofibers-embedded with niobium pentoxide

•Hybrid-fibers (inorganic-organic) are potential reinforcement for dental materials.•Niobium is promising as filler into fibers to improve mechanical properties.•SBS method fabricates non-woven fibers with small diameters in a rapid technology. In this study hybrid nanofibers embedded with niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5) were synthesized, incorporated in self-adhesive resin cement, and their influence on physical-properties was evaluated. Poly(D,L-lactide), PDLLA cotton-wool-like nanofibers with and without silica-based sol–gel precursors were formulated and spun into submicron fibers via solution blow spinning, a rapid fiber forming technology. The morphology, chemical composition and thermal properties of the spun fibers were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively. Produced fibers were combined with a self-adhesive resin cement (RelyX U200, 3M ESPE) in four formulations: (1) U200 resin cement (control); (2) U200+1wt.% PDLLA fibers; (3) U200+1wt.% Nb2O5-filled PDLLA composite fibers and (4) U200+1wt.% Nb2O5/SiO2-filled PDLLA inorganic–organic hybrid fibers. Physical properties were assessed in flexure by 3-point bending (n=10), Knoop microhardness (n=5) and degree of conversion (n=3). Data were analyzed with One-way ANOVA and Tukey’s HSD (α=5%). Composite fibers formed of PDLLA-Nb2O5 exhibited an average diameter of ∼250nm, and hybrid PDLLA+Nb2O5/SiO2 fibers were slightly larger, ∼300nm in diameter. There were significant differences among formulations for hardness and flexural strength (p