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In Vacuo Tribological Behavior of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and Alumina Nanocomposites: The Importance of Water for Ultralow Wear

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Abstract

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is widely regarded as an excellent candidate for solid lubrication in vacuum. However, it is often precluded from many practical applications due to its intrinsically high wear rate. Over the past decade, it has been discovered that small loading fractions of alumina nanofillers can increase the wear resistance of PTFE by three to four orders of magnitude. This dramatic increase in wear resistance has in turn prompted numerous tribological studies to examine the robustness of this performance. In this study, the wear and friction behavior of unfilled PTFE and PTFE and alumina nanocomposites were evaluated under a broad range of vacuum environments from 760 to 4 × 10−6 Torr. The nanocomposites of PTFE/alumina showed a dramatic increase in wear of over two orders of magnitude at the highest vacuum conditions. There appears to be an optimal vacuum environment around 1–10 Torr, in which these samples achieved the lowest wear rates of approximately 2.5 × 10−7 mm3/(Nm).

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the many collaborators at DuPont, including Gregory S. Blackman, Christopher P. Junk, and Heidi E. Burch for their thoughtful comments and insight. We would also like to extend our sincere appreciation to current and former members of the Tribology Laboratory at the University of Florida for their support and valuable discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Angela A. Pitenis, Jeffrey J. Ewin & W. Gregory Sawyer

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Kathryn L. Harris & W. Gregory Sawyer

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, 18015, USA

    Brandon A. Krick

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  1. Angela A. Pitenis
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  2. Jeffrey J. Ewin
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  3. Kathryn L. Harris
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  4. W. Gregory Sawyer
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  5. Brandon A. Krick
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Correspondence to Brandon A. Krick.

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Pitenis, A.A., Ewin, J.J., Harris, K.L. et al. In Vacuo Tribological Behavior of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and Alumina Nanocomposites: The Importance of Water for Ultralow Wear. Tribol Lett 53, 189–197 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-013-0256-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-013-0256-1

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