Tribocorrosion performance of Co/UHMWPE composite biocoatings compared to pure co coatings in a simulated physiological solution

In this study, comparative investigation of pure Co coatings and Co/UHMWPE (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) composite biocoatings was carried out to determine the tribocorrosion performance in a simulated physiological solution. The in situ electrochemical technique used for investigation of tribo-electrochemical degradation was the open circuit potential (OCP) measurement performed before, during and after sliding tests. The results show that the addition of the UHMWPE biopolymer microparticles into Co matrix led to an improvement tribocorrosion resistance compared to pure Co coatings intended for biomedical applications.