Graphical Abstract
![](https://wqketang.oss-cn-beijing.aliyuncs.com/zip-unzip/zip-2ea4facc-15f2-4a96-b1bc-f4ce9f6acac2/friction-12-9-2018/files/friction-12-9-2018-FE1.jpg?Expires=1725757739&OSSAccessKeyId=STS.NSssK71aLjDMY9SbRgGRGskMT&Signature=YkqPzq1VfFD9Cm64WECqNlT7fXE%3D&security-token=CAISywJ1q6Ft5B2yfSjIr5DGOPGD3L5t3YamWx%2FihlIyS91rnK7mtjz2IHtKenhsBOsbtfk1mG5W5%2FgZlqJ9SptIAEfJa9d99Myjb%2F9FltCT1fau5Jko1beHewHKeTOZsebWZ%2BLmNqC%2FHt6md1HDkAJq3LL%2Bbk%2FMdle5MJqP%2B%2FUFB5ZtKWveVzddA8pMLQZPsdITMWCrVcygKRn3mGHdfiEK00he8TouufTinpHMskGA1Aell7Mvyt6vcsT%2BXa5FJ4xiVtq55utye5fa3TRYgxowr%2Fwo0v0YpGya5YzHXwcPskvdKZbo78UqLQlla6w%2BGqFJqvPxr%2Fp8t%2Fx5fWJKAezhVgs8cVM8JOjIqKOscIsixo262SmqFV55c8Fdm%2BgUooJVgIMhTnduUfAPJAGOxzJitP%2BUVGGphr60TEnBL4rB5MUctfzRpwT64j3UTzDnGoABhFRSspTLrn9GrEN9pQYzC6eepGdfWDQh3fr5hA1VnwVUJMCz%2BNQEDWKceF%2FnEjWVMtfbvqYxuyhSCmIMMyh5bEREEKEiD%2BFVv4ZfsqnV7hQy5w6HhIkN8kZzP6L0zPvPgkBLOtdMDeDxhf8dVPrCSG4etXHjxcwUaRVb3ZR7Yu8gAA%3D%3D)
Discover the SciOpen Platform and Achieve Your Research Goals with Ease.
This study reports on the tribological performance of aromatic thermosetting co-polyester (ATSP) and polyether ether ketone (PEEK)-based polymer composite coatings mixed with PTFE filler. The coatings were tested across a wide temperature range from −180 to 110 ℃ to simulate the environmental temperatures on Titan, Moon, and Mars, which are of particular interest for NASA’s future exploratory missions. An experimental setup was developed to conduct the pin-on-disk experiments under dry sliding conditions and extreme temperature and contact pressure. Transfer film formation and its characteristics were found to play significant roles in the tribological performance, and the characteristics of the film were temperature-dependent. The XPS and SEM analysis indicated the increase of the PTFE content in the transfer film as the temperature decreased to cryogenic conditions. The coefficient of friction did not follow a linear trend with temperature and was minimum at 110 ℃ and maximum at −180 ℃. ATSP coating showed superior performance with lower friction and unmeasurable wear at all temperatures, whereas PEEK coating exhibited maximum wear at 25 ℃ followed by −180, and 110 ℃.
Fusaro R L. Evaluation of several polymer materials for use as solid lubricants in space. Tribol Trans 31(2): 174–181 (1988)
Roberts E W. Thin solid lubricant films in space. Tribol Int 23(2): 95–104 (1990)
Reeves C J, Menezes P L, Lovell M R, Jen T C. Tribology of solid lubricants. Tribology for Scientists and Engineers. New York, NY: Springer New York: 447–494, 2013.
Gong H J, Yu C C, Zhang L, Xie G X, Guo D, Luo J B. Intelligent lubricating materials: A review. Compos Part B Eng 202: 108450 (2020)
Gupta P, Ahamad N, Kumar D, Gupta N, Chaudhary V, Gupta S, Khanna V, Chaudhary V. Synergetic effect of CeO2 doping on structural and tribological behavior of Fe-Al2O3 metal matrix nanocomposites. ECS J Solid State Sci Technol 11(11): 117001 (2022)
Ren Y L, Zhang L, Xie G X, Li Z B, Chen H, Gong H J, Xu W H, Guo D, Luo J B. A review on tribology of polymer composite coatings. Friction 9(3): 429–470 (2021)
Sinha S, Briscoe B. Polymer Tribology. Imperical College Press, 2009.
Friedrich K. Polymer composites for tribological applications. Adv Ind Eng Polym Res 1(1): 3–39 (2018)
Bashandeh K, Lan P X, Polycarpou A A. Tribological performance improvement of polyamide against steel using polymer coating. Tribol Trans 62(6): 1051–1062 (2019)
Roy A, Mu L W, Shi Y J. Tribological properties of polyimide-graphene composite coatings at elevated temperatures. Prog Org Coat 142: 105602 (2020)
Yu C Y, Ju P F, Wan H Q, Chen L, Li H X, Zhou H D, Chen J M. Designing a PAI/PTFE coating with enhanced high-temperature tribological properties by S8-POSS: Solid-liquid dual lubrication. Prog Org Coatings 145: 105667 (2020)
Bashandeh K, Lan P X, Meyer J L, Polycarpou A A. Tribological performance of graphene and PTFE solid lubricants for polymer coatings at elevated temperatures. Tribol Lett 67(3): 99 (2019)
Bashandeh K, Tsigkis V, Lan P X, Polycarpou A A. Extreme environment tribological study of advanced bearing polymers for space applications. Tribol Int 153: 106634 (2021)
Nunez E E, Gheisari R, Polycarpou A A. Tribology review of blended bulk polymers and their coatings for high-load bearing applications. Tribol Int 129: 92–111 (2019)
Bahadur S. The development of transfer layers and their role in polymer tribology. Wear 245(1–2): 92–99 (2000)
Bashandeh K, Lan P X, Polycarpou A A. Tribology of self-lubricating high performance ATSP, PI, and PEEK-based polymer composites up to 300 ℃. Friction 11(1): 141–153 (2023)
Li H L, Yin Z W, Jiang D, Jin L Y, Cui Y Q. A study of the tribological behavior of transfer films of PTFE composites formed under different loads, speeds and morphologies of the counterface. Wear 328–329: 17–27 (2015)
Nunez E E, Polycarpou A A. The effect of surface roughness on the transfer of polymer films under unlubricated testing conditions. Wear 326–327: 74–83 (2015)
Xue Y H, Yan S C, Chen Y. Thermomechanical and tribological properties of polyimide and polyethersulfone blends reinforced with expanded graphite particles at various elevated temperatures. J Appl Polym Sci 139(28): e52512 (2022)
Cui W Y, Raza K, Zhao Z J, Yu C G, Tao L M, Zhao W H, Chen W H, Peng S G, Xu Q, Ma L R, et al. Role of transfer film formation on the tribological properties of polymeric composite materials and spherical plain bearing at low temperatures. Tribol Int 152: 106569 (2020)
Wang Q H, Zheng F, Wang T M. Tribological properties of polymers PI, PTFE and PEEK at cryogenic temperature in vacuum. Cryogenics 75: 19–25 (2016)
Lan P, Gheisari R, Meyer J L, Polycarpou A A. Tribological performance of aromatic thermosetting polyester (ATSP) coatings under cryogenic conditions. Wear 398–399: 47–55 (2018)
Theiler G, Hübner W, Gradt T, Klein P, Friedrich K. Friction and wear of PTFE composites at cryogenic temperatures. Tribol Int 35(7): 449–458 (2002)
Babuska T F, Pitenis A A, Jones M R, Nation B L, Sawyer W G, Argibay N. Temperature-dependent friction and wear behavior of PTFE and MoS2. Tribol Lett 63(2): 15 (2016)
Hübner W, Gradt T, Schneider T, Börner H. Tribological behaviour of materials at cryogenic temperatures. Wear 216(2): 150–159 (1998)
Vaniman D, Reedy R, Heiken G, Olhoeft G, Mendell W. The lunar environment. In The Lunar Sourcebook. Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Lorenz R D. A review of balloon concepts for Titan. JBIS 61(1): 2 (2008).
Economy J, Polycarpou A A, Meyer J. Polymer coating system for improved tribological performance. United States Patent 9,534,138, 2017.
Tsigkis V, Bashandeh K, Lan P X, Polycarpou A A. Tribological behavior of PS400-related tribopairs for space exploration. Tribol Int 153: 106636 (2021)
Zhang J, Demas N G, Polycarpou A A, Economy J. A new family of low wear, low coefficient of friction polymer blend based on polytetrafluoroethylene and an aromatic thermosetting polyester. Polym Adv Technol 19(8): 1105–1112 (2008)
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.