Study of tribological properties of polyimide/graphene oxide nanocomposite films under seawater-lubricated condition

The polyimide (PI)/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposite films were synthesized by situ polymerization and their tribological behaviors under dry friction, pure water lubrication and seawater lubrication were comparatively investigated. The results showed that PI/GO exhibited better tribological properties under seawater-lubricated condition than other conditions because of excellent lubricating effect of seawater. Besides, the wear resistance of PI had been greatly improved by filling GO under seawater lubrication and reached the top when the content of GO was 0.5 wt%, because strong interfacial adhesion between PI matrix and GO nanofillers could transfer load effectively between the contact surfaces. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.