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Enhanced mechanical and tribological performance of PA66 nanocomposites containing 2D layered α-zirconium phosphate nanoplatelets with different sizes

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Abstract

Two-dimensional layered α-zirconium phosphate (ZrP) nanoplatelets with two distinguished sizes but similar aspect ratio were directly incorporated into polyamide 66 (PA66) by simple melt processing without using any surfactants. Through the electron microscopy analysis, the large ZrP nanoplatelets with ~ 1.33 μm in size and ~ 5.8 in aspect ratio exhibit a uniform dispersion in PA66 matrices at the filler loading up to 3 wt%, while the small ZrP nanoplatelets with an average size of ~ 230 nm and aspect ratio of ~ 6.2 tend to form large-scale aggregates in PA66 even at 1 wt% loading. Tensile testing results illustrate that the large ZrP nanoplatelets exhibit a better reinforcement effect in PA66 than the small ones. With the incorporation of 3 wt% large ZrP nanoplatelets, the PA66 nanocomposites exhibit an increase of ~ 10% in tensile modulus and ~ 14% in tensile strength as compared with the pure PA66. Pin-on-disc wear tests illustrate that the nanocomposites containing large ZrP nanoplatelets have better anti-wear properties than those prepared with small ZrP nanoplatelets. In specific, the PA66 nanocomposites containing 1 wt% large ZrP nanoplatelets show a ~ 43% decrease in friction coefficient and a ~ 59% reduction in the wear rate under the test condition of 40 N in load and 0.6 m/s in velocity. The mechanisms that are responsible for the mechanical and tribological enhancements in the PA66/ZrP nanocomposites have also been discussed.

2D layered α-zirconium phosphate (ZrP) nanoplatelets with large size can effectively enhance mechanical and tribological properties of PA66 nanocomposites.

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Funding

This work was supported by the start-up funding from Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), “The Recruitment Program of Global Youth Experts of China,” and the Foundation of Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Committee (Grant No.: JCYJ20170817110440310, KQJSCX20170726145415637, and JCYJ20160315164631204).

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  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, Guangdong, China

    Haoyang Sun, Zhengqin Fang, Tao Li, Fan Lei, Feng Jiang, Dandan Li, Yinghao Zhou & Dazhi Sun

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Sun, H., Fang, Z., Li, T. et al. Enhanced mechanical and tribological performance of PA66 nanocomposites containing 2D layered α-zirconium phosphate nanoplatelets with different sizes. Adv Compos Hybrid Mater 2, 407–422 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42114-019-00100-z

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