Influence of Particle Size from Micro- to Nanometer

Influence of Particle Size from Micro- to Nanometer 

Once the particle sizes are diminished down to the nanoscale ( 100 nm), the wear performance of these nanocomposites differs significantly from that of micron particle-filled systems. Polymers filled with nanoparticles are recently under discussion because of some excellent properties they have shown under various testing conditions. Some results were achieved in various studies, suggesting that this method is also promising for new processing routes of wear resistant materials. For instance, Xue et al. found that various kinds of SiC particles, i.e., nano, micron and whisker, could reduce the friction and wear when incorporated into a PEEK matrix at a constant filler content, e.g., 10 wt.% ( 4 vol.%). However, nanoparticles resulted in the most effective reduction. Nanoparticles were observed to be of help to the formation of a thin, uniform, and tenacious transfer film, which led to this improvement. The variation of Zr02 nanoparticles from 10 to 100 nm was conducted by Wang et al. The results showed a similar trend as most of the micron particles, i.e., the smaller the particles, the better was the wear resistance of the composites. 

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