Hydrogenated diamond-like carbon film deposited on UHMWPE by RF-PECVD

In this work, investigations were conducted to analyze the properties of diamond-like carbon (DLC) film deposited on ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) by radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD) at a low temperature of 50 °C. Composition and structure of the films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy. Hardness and wettability of the film were tested. Tribological characterizations were carried out on a universal micro-tribometer, and reciprocating friction against ZrO2 ball was adopted with 25% bovine serum as lubrication. Results show that DLC film was successfully deposited on UHMWPE surface by RF-PECVD and the sp3 content was about 20% in the film. The film increased the macrohardness of the substrate by about 42% and the wettability was improved too. Tribology test showed a higher friction coefficient but a much smaller wear volume after the deposition due to the surface roughening and strengthening.