Effect of coatings on thermal conductivity and tribological properties of aluminum foam/polyoxymethylene interpenetrating composites

The purpose of this work is to solve the problem of interface bonding in aluminum foam (AF)/polyoxymethylene (POM) interpenetrating phase composites (AF/POM). Silane coupling agent (KH-550), graphene oxide (GO), sulfonated graphene (S-GNS) and graphene (GS) coatings were prepared on the surface of AF, respectively, as an interfacial transition layer. The molten modified POM(POM C ) was injected into the hole of coated AF by injection molding to prepare different kinds of coated AF/POM C . Thermal conductivity, friction coefficient and wear loss of coated AF/POM C were analyzed, and the wear mechanisms were discussed in detail based on evidences from SEM. The effect of coatings on thermal conductivity of coated AF/POM C was also verified by ANSYS. The investigation has shown that four kinds of coating are successfully covered on the surface of AF, respectively, and the morphology of S-GNS coating is the smoothest. The thermal conductivity of coated AF/POM C is higher than that of AF/POM C . The thermal conductivity of S-GNS-AF/POM C reaches the highest value of 2.25 W m −1  K −1 , because S-GNS coating plays a role in reducing the thermal resistance of the interface between AF and POM C phases. The friction coefficient and wear loss of coated AF/POM C are also lower than that of AF/POM C . Three types of graphene coating(S-GNS,GO,GS) as an interface transition layer between AF and POM C phases can homogenize friction, accelerate heat transfer and reduce the friction coefficient and wear loss of composites. Through ANSYS thermal steady-state simulation, S-GNS-AF/POM C has the maximum number of heat flow paths and the highest heat flux compared with other materials.