Polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) has been proposed as a biocompatible artificial joint material. Wear particles, generated by friction between artificial joints, lead to bone resorption, aseptic loosening, and ultimately, joint failure. The size and morphology of wear particles contain information of friction and wear. Aim to obtain the wear mechanism of PEEK under different loads, this study separated PEEK debris and investigated the mechanism of wear debris and the relationship between wear mechanism and PEEK-debris morphology. An experiment was carried out with a pin-on-plate testing apparatus under different load conditions, with PEEK sliding against XLPE under saline lubrication. A method of isolating PEEK and XLPE debris from 0.9% normal saline at the same time was investigated by low-speed centrifugation. The morphologies of worn surface and wear debris were obtained based on scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the maximum friction coefficient and minimum wear loss were 0.115 and 0.223 mg at the load of 50 N. The friction coefficient decreased and the wear loss increased with the load increase. This debris-isolation method can effectively isolate PEEK and XLPE particles larger than 200 nm in diameter. More than 96% wear PEEK particles range from 0.1 µm to 10 μm. Compared with the debris generated under the lower load condition, 0.8% more large wear particles with irregular shapes were found at a load of 150 N. The morphology of wear particles is consistent with the wear mechanism.

聚醚醚酮（PEEK）已被提出作为生物相容性人工关节材料。人造关节之间的摩擦产生的磨损颗粒会导致骨吸收，无菌性松动并最终导致关节衰竭。磨损颗粒的大小和形态包含摩擦和磨损信息。为了获得不同载荷下PEEK的磨损机理，本研究分离了PEEK碎屑，研究了磨损碎屑的机理以及磨损机理与PEEK碎屑形态的关系。用销钉板测试设备在不同负载条件下进行了实验，PEEK在盐水润滑下相对于XLPE滑动。通过低速离心研究了一种同时从0.9％的生理盐水中分离PEEK和XLPE碎片的方法。基于扫描电子显微镜获得磨损表面和磨损碎片的形态。结果表明，在50 N的载荷下，最大摩擦系数和最小磨损量分别为0.115和0.223 mg。随着载荷的增加，摩擦系数减小，磨损量增加。这种碎片分离方法可以有效地分离直径大于200 nm的PEEK和XLPE颗粒。超过96％的PEEK磨损颗粒范围为0.1 µm至10 µm。与在较低载荷条件下产生的碎屑相比，在150 N的载荷下发现了多于0.8％的不规则形状的大磨损颗粒。磨损颗粒的形态与磨损机理相符。115和0.223 mg在50 N的负载下。随着负载的增加，摩擦系数降低，磨损损失增加。这种碎片分离方法可以有效地分离直径大于200 nm的PEEK和XLPE颗粒。超过96％的PEEK磨损颗粒范围为0.1 µm至10 µm。与在较低载荷条件下产生的碎屑相比，在150 N的载荷下发现了多于0.8％的不规则形状的大磨损颗粒。磨损颗粒的形态与磨损机理相符。115和0.223 mg在50 N的负载下。随着负载的增加，摩擦系数降低，磨损损失增加。这种碎片分离方法可以有效地分离直径大于200 nm的PEEK和XLPE颗粒。超过96％的PEEK磨损颗粒范围为0.1 µm至10 µm。与在较低载荷条件下产生的碎屑相比，在150 N的载荷下发现了多于0.8％的不规则形状的大磨损颗粒。磨损颗粒的形态与磨损机理相符。