Tribological Behavior of High Density Polyethylene Nanocomposites With Silane Treated Carbon Nanofibers

Abstract

New applications of carbon-based materials have been continuously developed in recent years. Carbon Nanofibers (CNFs) with silane coatings were added into high density polyethylene (HDPE) to improve the tribological properties of the nanocomposite material for biomedical applications. The nanocomposites were fabricated with various weight percentages of carbon nanofibers (0.5%, 1%, 3%) that were treated with different silane coating thicknesses (2.8nm, 46nm) through melt-mixing and compressive processing. The wear and friction tests were performed on a pin-on-disc tribometer under phosphate buffered saline lubricated condition. Compared with the pure HDPE, the friction coefficients of the nanocomposites were reduced dramatically and their wear resistance properties were also improved. Micro-hardness measurements of the nanocomposites were carried out and CNFs were found to be capable of improving the material’s micro-hardness effectively. The effects of concentration and silane coating thickness of CNFs on the tribological properties of the resulting nanocomposites were analyzed and the wear mechanism of the CNF/HDPE nanocomposites was discussed.