GOALI: Collaborative Research: Tribology of Nanocomposites

摘要：纳米复合材料的摩擦学这是佛罗里达大学(W.G.Sawyer)、伦斯勒理工学院(L.S.Schadler)和奥尔巴尼国际公司(G.Toney)的合作提案，该公司与一家专注于开发耐磨性能改善的纳米材料的公司合作，由一名摩擦学家和一名材料科学家组成团队。该项目的总体科学目标是通过以下方式获得对填充聚合物中磨损机理的基本了解：a)通过实验隔离颗粒尺寸(10 nm至10um)、颗粒长宽比(1至1000)、分散度、填料/基质界面和基质特性对性能的影响，b)获得磨损行为与其他机械特性之间的相关性的参数理解，以及c)磨损特性的建模。与传统填充聚合物相比，聚合物纳米复合材料的摩擦学性能显著提高。对于非润滑性纳米颗粒来说，降低摩擦系数的机理尚不清楚。最后，尽管有证据表明纳米颗粒填充聚合物的性能有了很大的改善，但还没有全面探索其在磨损方面的应用。2.0更广泛的影响这些新材料对聚合物轴承的影响将是广泛的，涵盖从需要干式滑动轴承的工业应用到矫形植入材料，再到空间环境的自润滑轴承。奥尔巴尼国际公司对这项工作的支持(约6万美元)表明了业界对这一领域的兴趣。他们正在支持伦斯勒大学的一名全日制研究生，并为佛罗里达州的服装测试提供了资金。他们将雇佣一名研究生进入合作社的职位，以便转移佛罗里达州和伦斯勒开发的技术，并为该学生提供工业经验。学生们将在纽约州特洛伊的伦斯勒理工学院和佛罗里达州盖恩斯维尔的佛罗里达大学之间旅行，分别扩大他们在纳米颗粒和复合材料的合成和加工以及摩擦学测试和建模方面的知识。

Abstract: GOALI Tribology of Nanocomposites This collaborative proposal between the University of Florida (W.G. Sawyer), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (L.S. Schadler) and Albany International (G. Toney) teams a tribologist and a materials scientist with a company focused on developing nanomaterials with improved wear behavior. 1.0 Intellectual Merit The overall scientific goal of the project is to gain fundamental understanding of the wear mechanisms in filled polymers by: a) experimentally isolating the effects of particle size (10 nm to 10 um), particle aspect ratio (1 to 1000), dispersion, filler / matrix interface, and matrix properties on performance, b) obtaining a parametric understanding of the correlation between wear behavior and other mechanical properties, and c) modeling of the wear properties. Polymer nanocomposites significantly improve the tribological performance when compared to traditional filled polymers. It is unclear for non-lubricious nanoparticles what the mechanism is that lowers the coefficient of friction. Finally, nanoparticle filled polymers have not been comprehensively explored for wear applications despite evidence suggesting large improvements in performance. 2.0 Broader Impacts The impact of these new materials in polymeric bearings will be broad, covering the spectrum from industrial applications needing dry sliding bearings, to orthopaedic implant materials, to self-lubricating bearings for space environments. An indication of the industrial interest in this field is the support of Albany International for this work (~$60K). They are supporting a full time graduate student at Rensselaer and have also supplied funds to Florida for wear testing. They will be hiring a graduate student into a co-op position in order to transfer technology developed by Florida and Rensselaer and provide industrial experience for the student. Students will travel between both Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy NY and the University of Florida in Gainesville FL to broaden their knowledge in the synthesizing and processing of nano-particles and composites and tribological testing and modeling, respectively.