The Wear behavior of UHMWPE against Surface Modified CP-Titanium by Thermal Oxidation

The effects of thermal oxidation duration on hardness, roughness, and wettability of the CP-titanium surfaces were investigated in this paper. The thermal oxidation treatment was done at 700 oC for 12-36 hours in an air atmosphere. The wear behavior of the UHMWPE sliding against treated thermal oxidation of the CP-titanium was tested by a pin-on-plate tribometer under lubrication of the solution of 75 % distilled water and 25 % bovine serum. The results showed that the layer of the oxide titanium was formed on the surface after being treated by the thermal oxidation for 12-36 hours. The oxide titanium layer was dominated by rutile form of TiO2, that offers an improvement of hardness and wettability of the CP-titanium surfaces. The average wear factor of the UHMWPE reduced significantly when the sliding against of the CP-titanium was modified by the thermal oxidation, and the lowest average wear factor was reached when the sliding against the 12 hour oxidized CP-titanium counterfaces.