Surface modification of polysulfone/PAO40 microcapsules via polydopamine to improve thermal stability and used to prepare polyamide 6-based self-lubricating composite

Herein, the modification of polydopamine (PDA) surface improved the high temperature stability of polysulfone (PSF)/PAO40 microcapsules ( D -microcapsules), which achieved the potential application of microcapsules in polyamide 6 (PA6). The D -microcapsules in PA6 for lubricative application has been investigated by ball-on-disc friction tests. In particular, the inclusion of 9 wt% D -microcapsules yielded the best tribological properties where the value of COF (0.088) was largely decreased as compared with that of the neat PA6(0.41). Moreover, the wear rate was found to be decreased from 4 × 10 −3 mm 3 /Nm to 4.3 × 10 −6 mm 3 /Nm. It has been demonstrated that better antifriction performance was associated with the lubricating film generated by PAO40. Therefore, the prepared PA6-based self-lubricating composites can be further applied in the field of self-lubricating materials.