Abstract
Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) is a widely used material for friction pairs due to its excellent mechanical strength, good wear resistance, and chemical inertness. However, some modifications are necessary when PEEK is used as a water-lubricated friction pair. In this study, a novel sulfonation method was developed to design a water-lubricated friction pair with ultralow friction, good wear resistance, and high loading capacity. PEEK powders were sulfonated using ClSO3H and sintered to form bulk plastic. The sulfonated PEEK (SPEEK) plastic exhibited good tribological properties. At a low sliding speed, the friction coefficient was smaller than 0.02 when a 3 wt% NaCl solution was used as the lubricant. The order of magnitude of the wear rate was as low as 10−8 mm3/(N·m). The mechanism of friction reduction was mainly hydration lubrication. The negatively charged −SO3− groups on the friction pair can adsorb hydrated Na+ cations by electrostatic interactions. These hydrated Na+ cations have a high load capacity and low shearing resistance. The ultralow wear mechanism observed in this study is possibly due to ultralow friction properties of the friction pairs prepared through the proposed sulfonation and thermoforming procedures.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Klein J. Hydration lubrication. Friction 1(1): 1–23 (2013)
Deng M M, Zhang C H, Li J J, Ma L R, Luo J B. Hydrodynamic effect on the superlubricity of phosphoric acid between ceramic and sapphire. Friction 2(2): 173–181 (2014)
Han T Y, Zhang C H, Luo J B. Macroscale superlubricity enabled by hydrated alkali metal ions. Langmuir 34(38): 11281–11291 (2018)
Han T Y, Zhang C H, Chen X C, Li J J, Wang W Q, Luo J B. Contribution of a tribo-induced silica layer to macroscale superlubricity of hydrated ions. J Phys Chem C 123(33): 20270–20277 (2019)
Han T Y, Zhang C H, Li J J, Yuan S H, Chen X C, Zhang J Y, Luo J B. Origins of superlubricity promoted by hydrated multivalent ions. J Phys Chem Lett 11(1): 184–190 (2020)
Zhang S W, Zhang C H, Hu Y Z, Ma L R. Numerical simulation of mixed lubrication considering surface forces. Tribol Int 140: 105878 (2019)
Ma Q, He T, Khan A M, Wang Q, Chung Y W. Achieving macroscale liquid superlubricity using glycerol aqueous solutions. Tribol Int 160: 107006 (2021)
Ma Q, Wang S J, Dong G N. Macroscale liquid superlubricity achieved with mixtures of fructose and diols. Wear 484: 204037 (2021)
Reddyhoff T, Ewen J P, Deshpande P, Frogley M D, Welch M D, Montgomery W. Macroscale superlubricity and polymorphism of long-chain n-alcohols. Acs Appl Mater Inter 13(7): 9239–9251 (2021)
Lin W F, Klein J. Recent progress in cartilage lubrication. Adv Mater 33(18): 2005513 (2021)
Pitenis A A, Uruena J M, Cooper A C, Angelini T E, Sawyer W G. Superlubricity in gemini hydrogels. J Tribol-T Asme 138(4): 042103 (2016)
Liu W R, Simic R, Liu Y H, Spencer N D. Effect of contact geometry on the friction of acrylamide hydrogels with different surface structures. Friction 10(3): 360–373 (2020)
Wang Z N, Li J J, Liu Y H, Luo J B. Macroscale superlubricity achieved between zwitterionic copolymer hydrogel and sapphire in water. Mater Design 188: 108441 (2020)
Yuan S H, Chen X C, Zhang C H. Reducing friction by control of isoelectric point: A potential method to design artificial cartilage. Adv Mater Interfaces 7(15): 2000485 (2020)
Ren Y L, Zhang L, Xie G X, Li Z B, Chen H, Gong H J, Xu W H, Guo D, Luo J B. A review on tribology of polymer composite coatings. Friction 9(3): 429–470 (2021)
Ma R, Tang T T. Current strategies to improve the bioactivity of PEEK. Int J Mol Sci 15(4): 5426–5445 (2014)
Panayotov I V, Orti V, Cuisinier F, Yachouh J. Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) for medical applications. J Mater Sci-Mater M 27(7): 118 (2016)
Liu W, Yang C, Wu S J, Xie Y J, Chen Y. Design of novel high pressure-resistant hydrothermal fluid sample valve. Chin J Mech Eng-En 21(1): 72–76 (2008)
Liu H, Wang J Z, Jiang P F, Yan F Y. Hydrostatic pressure-dependent wear behavior of thermoplastic polymers in deep sea. Polym Advan Technol 29(8): 2410–2415 (2018)
Nie S L, Guo M, Yin F L, Ji H, Ma Z H, Hu Z, Zhou X. Research on fluid-structure interaction for piston/cylinder tribopair of seawater hydraulic axial piston pump in deep-sea environment. Ocean Eng 219: 108222 (2021)
Sang S, Yang C, Chai H B, Yuan X W, Liu W, Zhang X L. The sulfonated polyetheretherketone with 3D structure modified by two bio-inspired methods shows osteogenic and antibacterial functions. Chem Eng J 420: 130059 (2021)
Lv M, Lv W J, Chen H Z, Zheng F, Liu J, Kong F D, Liu S L, Wang L T. Biotribological properties of nano zirconium dioxide and hydroxyapatite-reinforced polyetheretherketone (HA/ZrO2/PEEK) biocomposites. Iran Polym J 30(11): 1127–1136 (2021)
Zhang J C, Gao X Y, Ma D C, He S, Du B W, Yang W Z, Xie K N, Xie L, Deng Y. Copper ferrite heterojunction coatings empower polyetheretherketone implant with multi-modal bactericidal functions and boosted osteogenicity through synergistic photo/Fenton-therapy. Chem Eng J 422: 130084 (2021)
Gao C Z, Wang Z L, Jiao Z X, Wu Z X, Guo M, Wang Y, Liu J G, Zhang P B. Enhancing antibacterial capability and osseointegration of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) implants by dual-functional surface modification. Mater Design 205: 109733 (2021)
Xiao F, Zhai Y L, Zhou Y F, Xu X, Liu Y F, Ma X C, Gu X H, Wang W. Low-temperature fabrication of titania layer on 3D-printed PEKK for enhancing biocompatibility. Surf Coat Tech 416: 127158 (2021)
Lu H J, Shen L C, Wang C X, Jiang D Z. Sulphonation and characterization of polyethersulphone (PES). Chem J Chinese U 19(5): 833–835 (1998)
Lee K H, Chu J Y, Mohanraj V, Kim A R, Song M H, Yoo D J. Enhanced ion conductivity of sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) block copolymers linked by aliphatic chains constructing wide-range ion cluster for proton conducting electrolytes. Int J Hydrogen Energ 45(53): 29297–29307 (2020)
Kim I C, Choi J G, Tak T M. Sulfonated polyethersulfone by heterogeneous method and its membrane performances. J Appl Polym Sci 7(8): 2046–2055 (1999)
Fujita H, Shiraki F, Yoshikawa T, Oshima A, Washio M. Study on functionally gradient proton exchange membrane fabricated by eb irradiation with heterogeneous energy deposition. J Photopolym Sci Tec 23(3): 387–392 (2010)
Dai G M, Zhan L H, Guan C L, Huang M H. The effect of cooling rate on crystallization behavior and tensile properties of CF/PEEK composites. J Polym Eng 41(6): 423–430 (2021)
Barba D, Arias A, Garcia-Gonzalez D. Temperature and strain rate dependences on hardening and softening behaviours in semi-crystalline polymers: Application to PEEK. Int J Solids Struct 182: 205–217 (2020)
Huang J L, Dai Q W, Jin G H, Huang W, Wang X L. Water lubrication of Ni/Al2O3 composite coatings sliding With Si3N4. J Tribol-T ASME 142(10): 104501 (2020)
Liu J J, Wang Z, Yang J, Yin B, Sun Q C, Liu T L, Wang S, Qiao Z H. Study on tribological behaviors of Si3N4 based ceramics sliding against POM under different solutions. Tribol Int 118: 368–372 (2018)
Unal H, Mimaroglu A. Friction and wear characteristics of PEEK and its composite under water lubrication. J Reinf Plast Comp 25(16): 1659–1667 (2006)
Zhang J J, Liu J C, Wang Z X, Chen W, Hu B, Zhang Y, Liao H M, Ma S. Tribological behavior and lubricating mechanism of Si3N4 in artificial seawater. Ceram Int 46(10): 14361–14368 (2020)
Chen W, Hao W H, Gao D Q, Wang Z X, Zhao Z Q, Jia J H, Li H Q, He N R. Tribological Behaviors of Si3N4-hBN against PEEK with Precorrosion in Seawater. Tribol T 64(4): 679–692 (2021)
Ma L R, Gaisinskaya-Kipnis A, Kampf N, Klein J. Origins of hydration lubrication. Nat Commun 6: 6060 (2015)
Hachmi B D, VuKhanh T. Crystallization mechanism in PEEK/carbon fiber composites. J Thermoplast Compos 10(5): 488–501 (1997)
Wang H F, Zhao X G, Liu X C, Chen L, Ma J, Chen C H, Wu Z W, Zhou Y C. Synthesis and DSC analysis of PEEK-PEDEK block copolymer. Abstr Pap Am Chem S 226: U380–U380 (2003)
Gong J P, Katsuyama Y, Kurokawa T, Osada Y. Doublenetwork hydrogels with extremely high mechanical strength. Adv Mater 15(14): 1155–1158 (2003)
Chen Q, Zhang X Y, Chen K, Wu X F, Zong T, Feng C A, Zhang D K. Anisotropic hydrogels with enhanced mechanical and tribological performance by magnetically oriented nanohybrids. Chem Eng J 430: 133036 (2022)
Chen J Y, Cui L L, Yan C Q, Xiong D S, Mechanical and tribological study of PVA-pMPDSAH double-network hydrogel prepared by ultraviolet irradiation and freeze-thaw methods for bionic articular cartilage. J Bionic Eng 18(5): 1192–1201 (2021)
Zhang S W, Zhang C H. A new deterministic model for mixed lubricated point contact with high accuracy. J Tribol-T ASME 143(10): 102201 (2021)
Acknowledgements
This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51925506).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Chenhui ZHANG. He received his Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China in 2004. Since then, he has been working at the State Key Laboratory of Tribology of Tsinghua University. From February 2011 to August 2011, he was invited to Luleå University of Technology in Sweden as a visiting scholar. He was also invited to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel as a visiting scientist from February 2012 to January 2013. Currently, he is a professor at Tsinghua University. His research interests are nanocoating technology and applications, the theory of water-based lubrication, and the mechanism of superlubricity.
Shihua YUAN. He obtained his bachelor degree in 2017 from Tsinghua University. Then he became a Ph.D. candidate under the supervisor of Prof. Zhang at the State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University. His research interests include water-based superlubricity, polymer, and water-lubricated bearing.
Electronic Supplementary Material
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Yuan, S., Zhang, C. A sulfonated modification of PEEK for ultralow friction. Friction 11, 881–893 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-022-0625-6
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-022-0625-6