Abstract
Polymer brush layers can act as effective lubricants owing to their low friction and good controllability. However, their application to the field of tribology is limited by their poor wear resistance. This study proposes a strategy combining grafting and surface texturing to extend the service life of polymer brushes. Surface microstructure and chemical composition were measured through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Water contact angles were measured to evaluate the surface wettability of the grafted silicon-based surface texture. Results showed the distinct synergistic effect between polymer brushes and laser surface texturing (LST). The prepared polymer brushes on textured surface can be a powerful mechanism for friction reduction properties, which benefit from their strong hydration effect on the lubrication liquid and promote the formation of a local lubricating film. Moreover, the wear life of polymer brushes can be immensely extended, as micro-dimples on the textured surface can effectively protect the polymer brushes. This study presents a method to enhance the load-bearing capacity and wear resistance of the grafted surface of polymer brushes.
Highlights
To obtain low friction coefficients on substrate surfaces, the use of polymer brushes prepared from different monomers as a protective coating was extensively investigated in recent years [1,2].Grafted surfaces were observed to exhibit super lubrication in specific environments with various neutral, cationic, anionic, and zwitterionic polymer brushes [3,4]
Efficient lubrication of the polymer brush can be attributed to the highly stretched conformation of polymer chains in good solvents due to solvation, and the generation of osmotic repulsive force is opposite to the applied load, which can effectively prevent the approach of polymer chains and avoid entanglement between polymer chains
Polymer brushes can achieve ultra-low friction coefficients, common problems such as low load-bearing capacity and easy wearing still exist, which immensely limit their application in the industry [12]
Summary
To obtain low friction coefficients on substrate surfaces, the use of polymer brushes prepared from different monomers as a protective coating was extensively investigated in recent years [1,2]. Polymer brushes can achieve ultra-low friction coefficients (usually, friction coefficients are in the range of 0.001–0.008), common problems such as low load-bearing capacity and easy wearing still exist, which immensely limit their application in the industry [12] On this basis, a cross-linked strategy for polymer brushes was proposed to enhance load bearing and wear resistance of their surface by our research group [13]. Hu et al [22] produced micro-dimple patterns on a Ti6 Al4 V alloy and coated MoS2 film on textured surfaces (TS) to improve their tribological properties, and they observed a remarkable reduction in friction coefficient and an improvement in the lifetime of the MoS2 film. Previous research showed that textured surfaces can improve load-carrying capacity, grafted polymer brushes can improve lubricity, and surface micro-dimples can protect polymer chains from wear. To provide new insights and reference for prolonging the wear life of grafted surfaces of the polymer brush, the wear mechanism of grafted polymer brushes on the matrix surface was evaluated through a detailed analysis of their surface morphology and composition
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