Tribology and in-vitro biological characterization of samaria doped ceria stabilized zirconia ceramics

Samaria doped ceria stabilized zirconia (SmCSZ) ceramic discs were prepared through powder metallurgy technique and sintered in an air atmosphere. Near full dense sintered discs were tested using a pin on disk wear testing machine to evaluate tribological properties. The Low-Temperature Degradation (LTD) behaviour of SmCSZ was assessed using a hydrothermal aging study. The bioactivity was studied through a simulated body fluid immersion test, and the cytotoxic behaviour was evaluated by culturing osteoblast-like (MG63) cells on the surface of samples. It was observed that SmCSZ samples shown better tribological properties compared to undoped ceria stabilized zirconia (CSZ). The accelerated aging revealed no monoclinic phase transformation (no degradation) in SmCSZ even after 200 h of study, indicating its high resistance to LTD. The chemical treatment of samples with 5 M H3PO4 solution enhanced the bioactivity, and the cell culture study showed that the cells are metabolically active and proliferating on the surface of SmCSZ.