Tribological performance of polydopamine plus Ag nanoparticles/PTFE thin films

by Choudhury, Dipankar; Niyonshuti, Isabelle I.; Chen, Jingyi; Goss, Josue A.; Zou, Min

This study aims to improve the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin film adhesion to stainless steel substrates by incorporating Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) in a polydopamine (PDA) underlayer. Three different weight percent (1.0 wt%, 1.5 wt%, and 2.0 wt%) of AgNPs were added to the PDA deposition solution, resulting in an increased underlayer roughness. A 3.6-time increase in durability was achieved by adding only 2.0 wt% of AgNPs. Scratch and wear tests demonstrated the improved adhesion and wear resistance of the PDA + AgNPs/PTFE thin films. The improvement was attributed to the increased underlayer roughness, denser fibrillar PTFE network, and enhanced film transfer, all brought by the AgNPs.

Journal
Tribology International
Volume
144
Year
2020
URL
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2019.106097
ISBN/ISSN
1879-2464; 0301-679X
DOI
10.1016/j.triboint.2019.106097