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Phase stability after aging and its influence on pin‐on‐disk wear properties of Ce‐TZP/Al 2 O 3 nanocomposite and conventional Y‐TZP
Author(s) -
Tanaka Kenji,
Tamura Jiro,
Kawanabe Keiichi,
Nawa Masahiro,
Uchida Masaki,
Kokubo Tadashi,
Nakamura Takashi
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1552-4965
pISSN - 1549-3296
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.a.10006
Subject(s) - materials science , nanocomposite , autoclave , cubic zirconia , composite material , ceramic , phase (matter) , composite number , accelerated aging , metallurgy , chemistry , organic chemistry
Recently zirconia/alumina composites have been examined by many researchers as the new generation of bearing materials in total joint replacements. In this study, the phase stability of a Ce‐TZP/Al 2 O 3 nanocomposite and conventional Y‐TZP after aging, and its influence on wear resistance, were investigated. Very slight phase transformation was observed in both types of ceramics 18 months after the implantation of Ce‐TZP/Al 2 O 3 or Y‐TZP samples into rabbit tibiae. However, Y‐TZP showed marked phase transformation (approximately 80%) after aging in an autoclave (121°C) for 190 h or in physiological saline at 62°C for 18 months, whereas the new composite remained almost resistant to degradation. According to the results of self‐pairing pin‐on‐disk wear tests using ceramic specimens with or without autoclave aging, the wear factor was almost the same between Ce‐TZP/Al 2 O 3 samples with and without aging (6.74 ± 0.36 × 10 −8 and 6.04 ± 0.95 × 10 −8 mm 3 /Nm, respectively). In contrast, although non‐aged Y‐TZP had the lowest wear factor (4.88 ± 0.51 × 10 −8 mm 3 /Nm) of all specimens tested, aged Y‐TZP showed 10‐fold greater wear than nonaged Y‐TZP. The present study suggests that Ce‐TZP/Al 2 O 3 nanocomposite has much greater phase stability than Y‐TZP, and that its wear properties are not influenced by aging. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 67A: 200–207, 2003