• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.255-260
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• 2022

This research presents tetrahedral amorphous (ta-C) coating on the artificial tooth for improving the durability and functionality (esthtics, foreign body of tooth) by filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA). A differentiated coating method is required for a ta-C coating on polymer owing to the low melting point of the polymer, inter-facial adhesion, low friction, and non-conductivity. Herein, ta-C coating is applied below 50℃, and the potential difference of the carbon plasma drawn to the substrate was controlled by applying a positive duct bias voltage without using a substrate bias voltage. Consequently, the ta-C coating with a thickness of 70nm using the duct bias condition of 20V with the highest plasma intensity satisfies the esthetics of the artificial tooth and had a 5B level of inter-facial adhesion. In addition, the composite hardness of ta-C/polymer is 380 MPa, and correlations with esthetics, sp³ bonding, and mechanical properties. The friction coefficient (CoF) of the ta-C coating in a water-lubricated environment is 0.07, showing a six-fold reduction in CoF compared with that of a polymer.