Study on the Interaction between Talc and Perfluoropolyethers under Tribological Contact

Abstract

Particle contamination at the head–disk interface (HDI) is a major concern for the long-term reliability of hard disk drives. In the current study, it is shown that, surprisingly, soft and lubricious talc particles have a significant damaging effect on the friction performance of media lubricants, nanometer-thick perfluoropolyethers. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the adsorption studies indicate that two mechanisms, Lewis acid–catalyzed decomposition and surface adsorption, are responsible for the observed tribological degradation. The potential impacts of the findings here on the design of next-generation media lubricant have been discussed.

KEY WORDS:

• Perfluoropolyether
• Talc
• Magnetic Recording
• Lewis Acid–Catalyzed Decomposition
• Adsorption
• Friction
• Wear

Funding

The authors are grateful to Western Digital for financial support. X. G. acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21104069).