Investigation of tribological properties of polypropylene (PP)—Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) blends reinforced with graphene nano-platelets (GNPs)

Abstract

The tribological response of PP-ABS/GNPs nanocomposites fabricated via extrusion and injection molding with varying wt% GNPs fractions were examined under varying normal load and sliding speed wear test parameters. The specimens with 3% GNPs and 11% GNPs respectively exhibited the lowest and highest specific wear rates and COF under all test conditions. Increased load led to significantly reduced COF values, whereas increased sliding speed led to a slight reduction in COF by contributing to the formation of a continuous transfer layer. Addition of GNPs helped to retain the worn material on the contact surface and led to improved wear resistance up to the weight fraction of 3% after which non-homogeneous dispersion of GNPs occurred.