Molecular dynamics simulation of α‐ZrP/UHMWPE blend composites containing compatibilizer and its tribological behavior under seawater lubrication

Abstract

In this work, blended composites with ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) as matrix polymer, α‐zirconium phosphate (α‐ZrP) as filler, and sodium polyacrylate (PAANa) as compatibilizer were prepared. The interfacial interaction between PAANa as a compatibilizer and the components of α‐ZrP/UHMWPE was studied by molecular dynamics simulation. The friction and wear behavior of the GCr15 ball/composite friction pair under seawater lubrication under different loads were explored, and the friction and wear mechanism were analyzed. The results show that PAANa as a compatibilizer can effectively improve the interfacial interaction force between components of PAANa/α‐ZrP/UHMWPE composites. The composites exhibited different trends regarding the relationship between tribological properties and α‐ZrP content under various loads. The wear mechanism of composites under low load is mainly represented by extrusion deformation. With the increase of load, the wear mechanism of composites gradually changed into adhesive wear and abrasive wear (depending on the content of α‐ZrP). This work provides a theoretical basis for preparing and applying other α‐ZrP/polymer blend composites.

Tribological properties of carbon nanotube/polymer composites:A mini-review

“…During the sliding process, the graphite flakes become thinner and fall off, exposing the surface of the friction substrate, while the peeled graphite micro flakes form a hard transfer film on the surface of the friction substrate, which can effectively reduce the COF (Zhang et al, 2008). The other lubricant fillers such as MoS 2 (Yang et al, 2020), Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) (Rao et al, 2021), Zirconium phosphate (ZrP) (Cai et al, 2023), etc. were also reported to improve the tribological properties of polymers by forming the complete transfer film on the surface of the friction substrate, thus reducing the COF of the composite.…”