Morphological and Quantitive Characterization of Wear Particles Generated From Nanocomposites

Wear debris of materials used in joint replacements is known to be a major cause of the joint loosening and osteolysis that eventually lead to failure of the joint and the revision procedure. Research has shown that the degree of biological reaction of the immune system to the wear debris generated in the joint strongly depends on the size and shape of the wear particles. In this research, debris particles generated from a series of wear testing of carbon nano fiber (CNF) reinforced high density polyethylene (HDPE) samples were characterized both quantitatively and morphologically. The wear tests were conducted using a pin-on-disk wear tester (CETR UMT-2).  The nanocomposite sample was submerged in a saline bath during the wear test.  A variety of nanocomposite samples fabricated with different CNFs (pristine and silane-coated) were tested, and the weight concentrations of CNFs in the samples varied from . The primary debris particles were isolated following a sophisticated particle isolation protocol.  The isolated particles were then characterized using a dynamic light scattering (DLS) particle sizer, as well as a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The primary sizes of the wear particles measured by the DLS technique were consistent with the SEM observations.