Role of fullerene carbon on tribological performance of polyimide composites at a large temperature span

The effect of fullerene carbon (C60) on the tribological performance of polyimide (PI) composites was explored at different temperature conditions. The results demonstrate the addition of 1.0 wt% C60 can greatly enhance the tribological performance of PI/1.0C60. The friction coefficients and wear rates of 0.03/0.07 and 1.0 × 10 −5 /1.6 × 10 −5 mm 3 /Nm can be achieved at − 100 °C/200 °C, respectively, reducing by 86.4%/50.0% and 28.6%/30.1% compared with pure PI. It demonstrated the polymer states influenced the lubricated and loading carry capability of the sliding interfaces at different temperatures. XPS results indicated tribo-oxidation and organic-inorganic chelation reaction dominated the tribofilm growth. Moreover, molecular dynamics simulation showed the C60 enables the shear of PI easily due to the decreased intermolecular forces.