The study of mechanical and tribological performance of fulleroid materials filled PA 6 composites

Abstract

The effect of fulleroid materials (fullerene C60 and fullerene soot which is used for fullerene production) and carbon fibers on the mechanical and tribological properties of polymer nanocomposites based on polyamide 6 (PA6) was investigated. Composites were synthesized by in situ polymerization and direct mixing in an extruder. It was found that addition of these fillers during in situ polymerization was more effective at improving the mechanical and tribological properties of the composites. The use of the nanoparticles was an effective way to decrease the friction coefficient of the polymer composites because the fillers were the same size as the segments of the surrounding polymer chains. The steady state coefficients of friction with the addition of fulleroid fillers were lower than that of unfilled PA6. The lowest coefficient of friction was observed for PA6 filled with 1 wt. % fullerene soot.