In-situ polymerization of silica/polydicyclopentadiene nanocomposites: Improved tribological properties and evaluation of interfacial compatibility

Polymer materials concluding polydicyclopentadiene (poly-DCPD) are widely used in engineering fields but have low load-carrying capacities which limit its widely application. SiO2/poly-DCPD nanocomposites were prepared by in situ polymerization in this work. polystyrene (PS), chemically modified onto the surface of SiO2 nanoparticles to obtain oil-soluble polystyrene coated silica spheres with core-shell structure (PS@SiO2), was used to improve the interfacial compatibility between SiO2 nanoparticles and poly-DCPD matrix. Field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) was used to observe and evaluate the interfacial structure of SiO2/poly-DCPD nanocomposites. The tribological behaviors of SiO2 /poly-DCPD nanocomposites with different PS@SiO2 loading have been investigated detailly in this work. The results showed that the addition of PS@SiO2 nanospheres could greatly decrease friction coefficient and wear rate of the SiO2/poly-DCPD nanocomposites, especially when the loading of PS@SiO2 nanospheres arrived to 4 wt%. The well interfacial compatibility between the PS shell layer of PS@SiO2 spheres and poly-DCPD matrix should be resposible for the improved tribological properties of SiO2 /poly-DCPD nanocomposites.