Study on the friction and wear behavior of POM/Al2O3 nanocomposites

POM nanocomposites with various contents of nano-Al2O3 were prepared by twin-screw extruder in order to study the influence of inorganic nanoparticles on tribological properties of POM nanocomposites under dry sliding and oil lubricated conditions, respectively. The effects of content of nanoparticles and load on friction coefficient and wear volume loss were investigated, respectively. Results indicated that the average size of nanoparticles was 10 nm and nanoparticles dispersed homogeneously in POM though some nanoparticles agglomerated unavoidably. Nanoparticles were more effective in enhancing the tribological properties of POM nanocomposites in oil lubricated condition than in dry sliding condition. The optimal nanoparticles content in POM narrocomposites was 9%. Increasing the load is favourable to the decrease of friction coefficient for POM narrocomposites under relatively lower load, however, opposite to its wear resistance. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.