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Bioactivity and mechanical properties of nickel‐incorporated hydrogenated carbon nanocomposite thin films
Author(s) -
Bharathy P.Vijai,
Nataraj D.,
Yang Q.,
Kiran M.S.R.N.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.3800
Subject(s) - materials science , nickel , nanoindentation , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , nanocomposite , chemical engineering , thin film , microstructure , carbon fibers , carbon film , amorphous solid , amorphous carbon , carbide , composite material , metallurgy , composite number , nanotechnology , chemistry , crystallography , engineering
In this paper, the influence of nickel incorporation on the mechanical properties and the in vitro bioactivity of hydrogenated carbon thin films were investigated in detail. Amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a‐C:H) and nickel‐incorporated hydrogenated carbon (Ni/a‐C:H) thin films were deposited onto the Si substrates by using reactive biased target ion beam deposition technique. The films' chemical composition, surface roughness, microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated by using XPS, AFM, TEM, nanoindentation and nanoscratch test, respectively. XPS results have shown that the film surface is mainly composed of nickel, nickel oxide and nickel hydroxide, whereas at the core is nickel carbide (Ni 3 C) only. The presence of Ni 3 C has increased the sp 2 carbon content and as a result, the mechanical hardness of the film was decreased. However, Ni/a‐C:H films shows very low friction coefficient with higher scratch‐resistance behavior than that of pure a‐C:H film. In addition, in vitro bioactivity study has confirmed that it is possible to grow dense bone‐like apatite layer on Ni/a‐C:H films. Thus, the results have indicated the suitability of the films for bone‐related implant coating applications. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.