Improving the tribological performance of polyphenylene sulfide by incorporating irradiation treated polytetrafluoroethylene powders

In this work, the efficacy of using irradiation treated polytetrafluoroethylene (i.e., i‐PTFE) powders on the tribological properties of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS)‐based composites was systematically investigated. The results showed that the addition of i‐PTFE powders significantly improved the friction and wear properties of PPS. The average friction coefficient and specific wear rate of PPS/i‐PTFE 20 wt% composite reached 0.129 and 1.75 × 10−5 mm3 N−1 m−1, which were 77.4% and 99.5% lower than those of pure PPS, respectively. SEM observations indicated that the i‐PTFE powders exhibited a relatively uniform distribution within PPS, which favored the formation of intact, uniform and continuous transfer film on the surface of friction pair, thereby resulting in a significant improvement of tribological properties for PPS/i‐PTFE composites. The worn surface of the testing specimen turned smoother and the wear debris became smaller with increasing addition of i‐PTFE powders, which was related to the improvement of tribological performance by forming transfer film at the sliding interface. This work provided a strategy to fabricate high performance self‐lubricating polymer composites that demonstrate potential applications in engineering sectors. The incorporation of irradiation treated PTFE powders into polyphenylene sulfide favored the formation of intact, uniform and continuous transfer film on the friction pair, which was beneficial for improving the tribological performance of sample blocks.