Improving the Tribological Performances of PDA + PTFE Nanocomposite Coatings by Hot Compaction

Abstract

The tribological performance of compacted and noncompacted polydopamine (PDA)+polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) nanocomposite coatings on stainless steel (SS) substrates was investigated. The compaction was accomplished using a combination of heat and pressure. The noncompacted PDA + PTFE coating had an average of 11 times longer durability compared to the pure PTFE coatings. The compaction increased the coating durability by 2.6 times while reducing the coefficient of friction (COF). Furthermore, the compaction helped to reduce the porosity of the PDA + PTFE coating by 63 times compared to the noncompacted PDA + PTFE coating. The higher durability and lower COF of the compacted PDA + PTFE coating can be attributed to the reduced coating roughness and porosity, the enhanced adhesion strength to substrates, and the higher load-carrying capacity.

Keywords:

• PTFE
• nanocomposite
• hot compaction
• durability
• COF

Additional information

Funding

This material is based on work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Next Generation Electric Machines: Enabling Technologies Program Award Number DE-EE0007874 and by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant Nos. CMMI-1563227 and OIA-1457888. The views and opinions of the authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the U.S. Government or any agency thereof.