Advanced synthesis and characterization of DLC-based nanocomposite coatings for biomedical applications

该项目旨在通过开发具有溅射、等离子体和端霍尔离子源的集成物理和化学气相沉积系统，开发大规模生产技术，以获得粘附在生物医学植入物上的类金刚石（DLC）纳米复合涂层，以提高使用寿命和生物医学性能。需要解决的关键问题包括引入不同的碳源以提高沉积速率、纳米结构和新的界面设计，以提高DLC基涂层与植入基板的附着力。将探索的技术包括液态烃源，新开发的纳米中间层和纳米涂层，以及基于同步加速器的表征技术。团队成员在各种基材（包括钛合金、钴合金和不锈钢）上的金刚石和DLC涂层的合成和表征方面具有互补的专业知识和丰富的研究经验，使用各种先进技术，包括等离子体增强气相沉积、离子束沉积、生物医学评估和基于同步加速器的x射线光谱学。另一方面，支持组织率先在气相沉积设备的涂层沉积。具体来说，这些公司已经成功地开发了各种新的沉积系统和新的加工程序。很明显，所有的合作伙伴都有互补的专业知识和设备，因此，研究人员和公司之间的伙伴关系的发展将产生强大的协同作用，以解决在生物医学应用中使用DLC基纳米复合涂层的关键问题。该项目的完成将为加拿大人带来显著的社会和经济效益，因为沉积系统和合成技术都可以直接交付给市场，充分利用DLC的优异性能，用于各种生物医学和工业应用。特别是，新工艺将使生物医学金属上的DLC涂层大面积生产，这将使高性能生物医学植入物商业化，以提高生活质量。

This project aims to develop large scale production techniques to obtain adherent diamond like carbon (DLC) based nanocomposite coatings on biomedical implants by developing an integrated physical and chemical vapor deposition system with sputtering, plasma, and end hall ion sources for improved lifetime and biomedical performance. The key issues to be addressed include introduction of different carbon sources to increase the deposition rates, nanostructures, and new interfacial designs to improve the adhesion of DLC based coatings to the implant substrates. The techniques to be explored include liquid hydrocarbon sources, the newly developed nanointerlayers and nanocoatings, and synchrotron based spectroscopy for characterization. The team members have complementary expertise and extensive research experience in the synthesis and characterization of diamond and DLC based coatings on various substrates including titanium alloys, cobalt alloys, and stainless steels using various advanced techniques including plasma enhanced vapor deposition, ion beam deposition, biomedical evaluation, and synchrotron based X-ray spectroscopy. On the other hand, the supporting organizations pioneer in vapor deposition equipment for coating deposition. Specifically, the companies have successfully developed various novel deposition systems and novel processing procedures. It is evident that all the partners have complementary expertise and equipment, and thus the development of a partnership among the researchers and the companies would produce strong synergy for addressing the critical issues in using DLC based nanocomposite coatings for biomedical applications. The completion of the project will produce significant societal and economic benefit to Canadians as both the deposition systems and synthesis techniques can be directly delivered to the market to make full use of the outstanding properties of DLC for various biomedical and industrial applications. In particular, the new processes will enable large area production of DLC based coatings on biomedical metals, which will commercialize high performance biomedical implants to improve quality of life.