Elaboration and Evaluation of a Variety ofThin Hydrogenated Carbon Coatings on Polyethertherketonefor Biomedical Implants

Johnny Dufils (1, 2) , Frédéric Faverjon² (3) , Christophe Heau² (3) , Christophe Donnet (4, 2) , Stéphane Benayoun (1, 2) , Stéphane Valette (1, 2)

1 LTDS - Laboratoire de Tribologie et Dynamique des Systèmes
2 Université de Lyon
3 IREIS
4 LHC - Laboratoire Hubert Curien

Poly-aryl-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK) is apolymeric biomaterial whose high Young's modulus allows it to be used in load bearing applications in arthroplasty [1].In particular, PEEK-on-PEEK couples have been of interest for motion preservation spinal implants. Despite the good properties of PEEK, there is currently no definite benefit,in terms of wear rates, in using a PEEK-on-PEEK couple for spinal implants compared with the reference CoCr-UHMWPE couple [2][3].On the other hand, thin hydrogenated carbon coatings have been studied as coatings aiming at reducing wear and thus improving the lifespan of implants [4]. This study focuses on evaluating and comparing the physico-chemical, mechanical and tribological properties of different thin hydrogenated carbon coatings on PEEK.More precisely, four differentcoatings were obtained from a hydrocarbon gas by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD).Those four coatings were obtained under different bias voltages and with or without a polarizing titanium layerobtained by cathodic magnetron sputtering. The physico-chemicalproperties of surfaceswere assessed and compared by wetting, topographical analyses and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Particular attention was paid to the adhesive, scratch and nano-hardness properties of the hydrogenated carbon-PEEK combinations as well as to the residual stress in the coatings: a relationship between residual stress, scratch resistance and nano-hardness was established. The tribological performances of the different hydrogenated carbon-PEEK combinationswere investigatedby rubbing against alumina balls under physiological conditions and evaluated in terms of coefficient of friction and wear rate and compared to the PEEK surface reference. [1] S. Kurtz, PEEK Biomaterials Handbook Chapter 13 (2012) 201-220 [2]Grupp et al.,Biomaterials 31 (2010) 553-531 [3]Xin et al.,Wear 303 (2013) 473-479 [4] R. Hauert et al., Surface &CoatingsTechnology 223 (2013) 119-130

Domaines: Matériaux

Johnny Dufils, Frédéric Faverjon², Christophe Heau², Christophe Donnet, Stéphane Benayoun, et al.. Elaboration and Evaluation of a Variety ofThin Hydrogenated Carbon Coatings on Polyethertherketonefor Biomedical Implants. International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings and Thin Films, Apr 2016, San Diego, United States. ⟨hal-01416281⟩