Biotribological properties of Ti/TiB2 multilayers in simulated body solution

• Ti/TiB2 multilayers with various modulation ratios were deposited on Ti6Al4V.
• The modulation ratios of multilayer affect friction coefficients directly.
• The multilayer with modulation ratios of 1:5 exhibits an excellent anti-friction.
• The wear rate of UHMWPE, 0.37×10−6 mm3·(N m)−1, is lower than the data reported.
• The wear mechanism for Ti/TiB2 multilayers is abrasion wear and/or adhesive wear.

Ti/TiB2 multilayers with various modulation ratios were prepared by magnetron sputtering on biomedical titanium alloy Ti6Al4V. The tribological properties of the multilayers sliding against ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene under lubrication with Hank׳s solution were also investigated. The results demonstrated that the tribological properties strongly depended on the modulation ratios of multilayers. The coefficient of friction of multilayers with a modulation ratio of 1:5 was 0.1, a reduction by 28.6%; the wear volume loss of UHMWPE decreased by almost one order of magnitude compared to that of Ti6Al4V alloy, exhibiting excellent anti-friction and anti-wear properties. The oxidation wear of Ti6Al4V alloy could be restrained effectively and converted to abrasion wear and/or adhesive wear by the laminate structures in the multilayers, suggesting that this material may serve as a potential candidate for the surface modification of artificial joints.