Improving the tribological performance of polyphenylene sulfide by incorporating irradiation treated polytetrafluoroethylene powders

In this work, the efficacy of using irradiation treated polytetrafluoroethylene (i.e., i-PTFE) powders on the tribological properties of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS)-based composites was systematically investigated. The results showed that the addition of i-PTFE powders significantly improved the friction and wear properties of PPS. The average friction coefficient and specific wear rate of PPS/i-PTFE 20 wt% composite reached 0.129 and 1.75 x 10(-5) mm(3) N-1 m(-1), which were 77.4% and 99.5% lower than those of pure PPS, respectively. SEM observations indicated that the i-PTFE powders exhibited a relatively uniform distribution within PPS, which favored the formation of intact, uniform and continuous transfer film on the surface of friction pair, thereby resulting in a significant improvement of tribological properties for PPS/i-PTFE composites. The worn surface of the testing specimen turned smoother and the wear debris became smaller with increasing addition of i-PTFE powders, which was related to the improvement of tribological performance by forming transfer film at the sliding interface. This work provided a strategy to fabricate high performance self-lubricating polymer composites that demonstrate potential applications in engineering sectors.