Abrasive wear performance and antibacterial assessment of untreated and treated ZnO-reinforced polymer composite

Abstract

In this work, the response of different filler loading of zinc oxide (ZnO) reinforced ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) on mechanical, abrasive wear, and antibacterial properties were studied. Two variants of untreated ZnO-reinforced UHMWPE (U-ZPE) and treated ZnO-reinforced UHMWPE (T-ZPE) with aminoproplytriethoxysilane (APTES) were used to compare the improvement of the mechanical, abrasive wear, and antibacterial properties. The abrasive wear and friction behaviors were monitored using a pin-on-disc (POD) test rig with different applied loads and sliding speeds against 400-grit size of silicon carbide (SiC) abrasive paper under dry sliding conditions. The antibacterial assessments of the composites were tested against two common human body bacteria, that is, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Results have shown that T-ZPE possess higher ultimate tensile strength and elongation at break values as compared to U-ZPE. Furthermore, the T-ZPE have higher wear resistance compared to U-ZPE and pure UHMWPE. The average coefficient of friction (COF) of UHMWPE was not significantly affected by the addition of both untreated and treated ZnO filler. The wear mechanisms were studied under scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Both U-ZPE and T-ZPE composites showed active inhibition against E. coli and S. aureus bacteria. POLYM. COMPOS., 34:1020–1032, 2013. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers