Tribological behavior of polytetrafluoroethylene coating reinforced with black phosphorus nanoparticles

Abstract

This study compares the tribological performance of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin film coating reinforced with black phosphorus (BP) or ball-milled graphite (BMG) nanoparticles, so as to elucidate their mechanism of action under reciprocating sliding test conditions. PTFE coatings with 0.5 wt.% BMG (BMG/PTFE) and 0.5 wt.% BP (BP/PTFE) were prepared on GCr15 bearing steel disk by using a spin coater. The friction and wear tests were carried out by using the ball-on-disk tribometer under a normal load of 1 N (contact pressure: 780 MPa), a frequency of 2 Hz, and 4.2 mm sliding displacement amplitude. The surface roughness, wear volume and surface morphology of the coatings were characterized by the three-dimensional white light, and Energy Dispersive X-ray Detector (EDX) analysis coupled with environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). It is found that BP/PTFE coating has better anti-wear and anti-friction performances than those of pure PTFE or BMG/PTFE coating. The coating with BP nanoparticles shows excellent tribological properties with the wear volume decreased from 3.52 × 106 μm3 to 1.64 × 106 μm3 and the coefficient of friction (COF) decreased from 0.117 to 0.046. More importantly, the BP layer probably expands and absorbs much energy due to its negative Poisson's ratio phenomenon under reciprocating sliding, and effectively reducing furrow and adhesive wear.