59 / 2021-06-30 09:38:12

Radiation resistance of hydrogen-free amorphous carbon (a-C) film for solid lubrication on PTFE polymer surface

gamma irradiation, hydrogen-free amorphous carbon (a-C) film, PTFE, solid lubrication, radiation resistance

In this paper, hydrogen-free amorphous carbon (a-C) film was prepared on the surface of PTFE polymer and exposed to gamma (γ) irradiation at a total dose of 1 MGy in an atmospheric environment. The effects of gamma irradiation on the surface microstructure and tribological properties of PTFE polymer with and without a-C film were investigated. The results reveal that the PTFE surface exhibits a distinct crack morphology and the oxygen-containing functional group (O-C=O) is detected after γ irradiation. However, the microstructure and morphology of the PTFE surface with a-C film do not change significantly with the same irradiation. The a-C film has excellent irradiation stability and is deposited on the PTFE surface to isolate the oxidation during irradiation, improving the irradiation resistance of the PTFE surface. The friction test results show that the wear rate in PTFE increases from 6.25×10^-4 mm³/N·m before irradiation to 3.0×10^-3 mm³/N·m after irradiation, while the wear rate in PTFE deposited with a-C film remains at 1.11×10^-4 mm³/N·m before and after irradiation. The deposition of hydrogen-free amorphous carbon (a-c) films improves the wear resistance of PTFE by an order of magnitude in an irradiated environment.In this paper, hydrogen-free amorphous carbon (a-C) film was prepared on the surface of PTFE polymer and exposed to gamma (γ) irradiation at a total dose of 1 MGy in an atmospheric environment. The effects of gamma irradiation on the surface microstructure and tribological properties of PTFE polymer with and without a-C film were investigated. The results reveal that the PTFE surface exhibits a distinct crack morphology and the oxygen-containing functional group (O-C=O) is detected after γ irradiation. However, the microstructure and morphology of the PTFE surface with a-C film do not change significantly with the same irradiation. The a-C film has excellent irradiation stability and is deposited on the PTFE surface to isolate the oxidation during irradiation, improving the irradiation resistance of the PTFE surface. The friction test results show that the wear rate in PTFE increases from 6.25×10^-4 mm³/N·m before irradiation to 3.0×10^-3 mm³/N·m after irradiation, while the wear rate in PTFE deposited with a-C film remains at 1.11×10^-4 mm³/N·m before and after irradiation. The deposition of hydrogen-free amorphous carbon (a-c) films improves the wear resistance of PTFE by an order of magnitude in an irradiated environment.