Bioinspired oil‐soluble polymers based on catecholamine chemistry for reduced friction. Issue 21 (19th January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: He, Mingrui; Sun, Yulong; Tan, Xiaolong; Luo, Jing; Zhang, Hongyu
• Is Part Of: Journal of applied polymer science. Volume 138:Issue 21(2021)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2021-01-19
• Subjects: friction -- grafting -- photopolymerization -- wear and lubrication; Polymers -- Periodicals; Polymerization -- Periodicals; 668.9
• DOI: 10.1002/app.50472
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-8995

Abstract

Abstract: Reduction of friction and wear contributes significantly to energy saving for mechanical system as considerable energy has been consumed in various forms of friction worldwide. In the present study, two kinds of dopamine‐based oil‐soluble polymers were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (DOPA‐BiBB‐pLMA) and photopolymerization (DOPA‐I2959‐pLMA), and modified onto the Ti6Al4V sheet by the "grafting to" method. The characterizations of nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectrum, water contact angle, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed that the polymers were successfully grafted onto the Ti6Al4V surface. Additionally, a series of tribological tests were performed in oil environment using a universal materials tester under different experimental conditions. It was shown that the coefficient of friction using the Ti6Al4V sheets grafted by the dopamine‐based polymers was reduced by 23.5–46.2% compared with bare Ti6Al4V sheet. Furthermore, the wear depth and wear volume were also greatly decreased with the introduction of the dopamine‐based polymers. DOPA‐I2959‐pLMA showed slightly better lubrication enhancement than that of DOPA‐BiBB‐pLMA, which may be attributed to the relatively higher polymerization degree. In summary, a universal "grafting to" surface modification approach was proposed bioinspired by catecholamine chemistry, which remarkably reduced friction and wear of the tribopairs with the introduction of oil‐soluble polymers. Abstract : Bioinspired by catecholamine chemistry, dopamine‐based oil‐soluble polymers were successfully synthesized and modified to Ti6Al4V substrate by "grafting to" method. A significant reduction of friction and wear of the tribopairs was achieved by adding the developed oil‐soluble polymers to base oil, which has great importance for energy saving in mechanical industry.