Abstract
The specimens of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) were treated by oxygen plasma using a pulse-biased screen-grid technique under different negative bias conditions. The screen-grid was used to provide an electric field to accelerate the oxygen ions towards the UHMWPE substrate during the plasma treatment process. The effects of the screen-grid voltage on the surface microstructure, wettability, mechanical properties and wear resistance of UHMWPE were investigated. It was found that the degree of crosslinking, oxidation, wettability and surface roughness of UHMWPE can be increased with the increasing of the screen-grid voltage. Owing to the increase of the degree of crosslinking, the hardened layer formed on the surface of the UHMWPE samples was also strengthened greatly with the increase of the grid voltage. However, the wear results indicated that the UHMWPE sample modified at higher bias voltage exhibits poor wear performance, which could be mainly related to the embrittlement resulted from the aggravation of oxidation.
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