Effects of TiO₂ decorated reduced graphene oxide on mechanical and tribological properties of thermosetting polyimide

ABSTRACT

In this paper, TiO₂ decorated reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite (TiO₂@RGO), synthesized with the help of 3-Triethoxysilylpropylamine (APTES), was utilized to reinforce polyimide (PI), and the mechanical and tribological properties of this hybrid reinforced nanocomposite were investigated. Compared with RGO, TiO_2, and TiO₂/RGO mixture added to PI, TiO₂@RGO showed synergistic effect and significant enhancement of the compress performance and wear resistance of PI composites. The compressive strength and modulus are increased by about 31% and 43%, respectively, compared to pure PI. Under high-load 300 N, the wear rate of TiO₂@RGO reinforced PI composite decreased to one-tenth of that of pure PI, and was also much lower than other comparatively studied filler reinforced PI composites. In the analysis of the mechanical and friction mechanism, the excellent mechanical and tribological properties of TiO₂@RGO/PI composite are attributed to the ‘ball-on-plane’ structure of TiO₂@RGO composite and the chemical bonds between RGO and TiO₂, which are assumed to stop crack propagation in the friction and lead to the wear reduction of PI composite. The outstanding mechanical and tribological properties of TiO₂@RGO/PI composite show its promising potential of application as the tribological film that high wear resistance is required under heavy load.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Modified TiO₂@RGO
• polyimide (PI)
• friction and wear
• synergistic effect

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51565025), the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province (Grant No. 1606RJZA036), and the open research fund of State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication (Grant No. LSL-1713).

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant No. 51565025]; Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province [Grant No. 1606RJZA036]; State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication [Grant No. LSL-1713].