Advances on the use of carbon based materials at the biological and surface interface for applications in medical implants

Abstract

We present a comparative study where carbon nanostructures were prepared by electron and ion beam methods. Thin films of 10 × 10 µm 2 area were prepared and analysed by Raman analysis, nanoindentation, energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The material formed is not soft and graphitic, but of intermediate hardness (6-13 GPa) and with Raman spectral features similar to those of hydrogenated amorphous carbon, although it contains a significant Ga content (up to 25 at. %). This study was used to form sharp AFM supertip structures which were used to image sintered ceramic samples and films of aligned carbon nanotubes. Compared to traditional Si tips, this gave an improved rendering of the sample's aspect ratio although the resolution is limited by the diameter of the C supertips.

Diamond-like carbon coating of alternative metal alloys for medical and surgical applications

“…Of particular importance are adherence to the substrate and formation of an effective diffusion barrier to prevent metal ion release [8]. The use of an a-C:Si:H film/substrate interlayer has been used by a number of researchers to promote bonding and reduce adhesion failure BJ …”

“…The risk of any adverse effects related to aluminium biocompatibility could potentially be overcome by coating the instruments with a diffusion barrier. Diamond-like carbon (DLC) has demonstrated biocompatibility [6] and has been shown to be effective as a diffusion barrier, including for biomedical implants such as cardiovascular stents, heart valves and orthopaedic devices [7][8][9][10]. In addition to the barrier properties to prevent corrosion and leaching of aluminium to biological tissue, the damage resistance of the coating is also important in the clinical environment to counter wear and tear from normal operation and cleaning procedures.…”

Time Resolved Spectroscopic Characterization of a-C:H Deposition by Methane and Removal by Oxygen Inductively Coupled RF Plasma

“…Various methane containing plasmas are used in many applications for producing thin carbon containing films or structures and therefore provide simple method to produce controlled samples of carbon deposits [12][13][14][15].…”

The Properties and Application of Carbon Nanostructures

“…It should be noted that the deposition process is affected by several phenomena. The filament does not represent a point-like carbon source [51] and during the evaporation process it breaks without fully evaporating along its complete length. The flash evaporation proceeds in rather low vacuum and evaporated carbon particles under a large number of inelastic scattering events with molecules of residual gas on the way from the filament to the substrate, by which their energy is reduced and flight direction is changed randomly.…”