Study on Bio-Tribological Properties of Nitrogen Ion Implanted UHMWPE

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Abstract
As the aseptic loosening induced by polyethylene wear debris is the main cause of long-term failure of total joint replacements, increasing the wear resistance of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) will be very important to obtain long-life artificial joint. In this paper the UHMWPE was implanted with 450 keV N+ ions to three doses of 5×1014/cm2, 2.5×1015/cm2 and 1.25×1016/cm2. The friction and wear behaviors of UHMWPE were studied under lubrication of distilled water and blood plasma using a ball-on-disk tribometer with a ZrO2 ceramic ball as a counterface. Experimental results showed that the friction coefficient of ions implanted UHMWPE are higher than un-implanted UHMWPE. Under blood plasma lubrication condition, the wear rate of implanted UHMWPE was lower than un-implanted UHMWPE, and the wear rate decreased with increasing implantation dose. The plow, plastic deformation and fatigue were wearing mechanism for un-implanted UHMWPE and the abrasive wear for implanted UHMWPE.