The Role of Functional End Groups of Perfluoropolyether (Z-dol and Z-03) Lubricants in Augmenting the Tribology of SU-8 Composites (original) (raw)
In an earlier work, we demonstrated the development of SU-8 composites using perfluoropolyether (PFPE) as lubricant filler which reduced friction coefficient by *7 times and enhanced wear life of SU-8 by more than four orders of magnitude. In this work, we have investigated the role of chemical bonding between SU-8 and PFPE molecules using two types of PFPE lubricants (i.e., Fomblin Ò Z-dol and Z-03) in improving the tribological properties of the composite. Z-dol has polar (-OH) end groups whereas Z-03 has non-polar (CF 3 ) end groups. SU-8 with Z-dol (SU-8 ? Z-dol) films yielded *8 times greater wear life than SU-8 with Z-03 (SU-8 ? Z-03) films and more by four orders of magnitude than pure SU-8. The nature of the films was analyzed in detail by chemical and physical characterization techniques like X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, water contact angle and thermo-gravimetric analysis. The results validated the role of polar end functional group of Z-dol in covalent binding with SU-8 upon UV plasma treatment that resulted in improved tribological properties.
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