Designing and Evaluating Carbide-Derived Carbon As a Novel Biomaterial for Hip Implants

Hip replacement is one of the most common orthopedic surgical procedures and is usually required due to arthritis or osteoporosis in older populations. Despite the discovery and availability of different combinations and different types of polymer, metal and ceramic materials, limited durability and lifespan due to degradation in service is still the main cause of hip implant failure. The need to find better biomaterials to address and extend the lifespan of the implants therefore continues apace. Carbide-derived carbon (CDC) produced by processing silicon carbide (SiC) at high temperatures in the presence of a chlorine gas mixture was designed and evaluated as a novel biomaterial for hip implants. The effects of residual chlorine and sub-micron CDC particles on the biocompatibility of CDC powder, the effects of key CDC processing parameters on the tribological properties of CDC specimens under physiological simulated conditions, and the effects of post-chlorination treatments on the biocompatibility of the CDC specimens were determined in this research. In brief, biocompatible CDC layers can be produced by modulating chlorination conditions and application of a post-chlorination hydrogen treatment. Excessive processing conditions (high temperature and long processing time) are not recommended as these will affect the integrity of the resulting CDC layer.