Volume 16, Issue 3, 2007

LETTER: TRIBOLOGICAL BEHAVIOURS OF EPOXY COMPOSITES FILLED WITH SILICON CARBIDE NANOPARTICLES

Chun Yuan Zhang¹, Min Zhi Rong², Ming Qiu Zhang^3*

¹ The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou 510080, P. R. China
² Key Laboratory for Polymeric Composite and Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, OFCM Institute, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou 510275, P. R. China
³ Materials Science Institute, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou 510275, P. R. China

^* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed, e-mail: ceszmq@mail.sysu.edu.cn

Received 14 April 2007; accepted 31 May 2007

ABSTRACT

Epoxy composites filled with silicon carbide nanoparticles were fabricated in this work. Sliding wear tests in association with morphological observation indicated that the wear mode of the nanocomposites was rather mild, forming a striking contrast to the severe wear of unfilled epoxy characterized by substantial material loss under the same measurement conditions. Both specific wear rate and friction coefficient of the nanocomposites were significantly lower than those of the unfilled epoxy. On the basis of mechanical testing and tribochemical analysis, it was found that the addition of nano-SiC particles into epoxy increased the mechanical properties of the matrix and facilitated some favourable tribochemical reactions during rubbing, which accounted for the great improvement in the tribological performance.

Keywords: Nanoparticles, epoxy, wear, friction