SU-8 Composite Based “Lube-tape” for a Wide Range of Tribological Applications

Micromachines

Prabakaran Saravanan¹  Nalam Satyanarayana¹ 

[1] Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576; E-Mail:

关键词: SU-8;    PFPE;    composite;    polymer tribology;    Lube-tape;    chemical bonding;   

DOI  :  10.3390/mi5020263

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

In a previous work, we have developed a perflouropolyether (PFPE) lubricant droplet-filled SU-8 composite which promotes bonding between the molecules of SU-8 and PFPE and provides excellent boundary lubrication. The SU-8 + PFPE composite has enhanced the wear durability of SU-8 by more than four orders of magnitude. In this work, the same SU-8 + PFPE composite was used to fabricate a stand-alone laminate film called “Lube-tape”. It has integrated two layers of approximately 90 microns thickness each; the top layer is made of SU-8 + PFPE composite and the bottom layer of pristine SU-8. Thus, a single tape can have drastically contrasting high friction and low friction properties on its two surfaces. The composite side has the initial coefficient of friction ~7 times lower and the wear life more than four orders of magnitude than those of the pristine SU-8 side. This lube tape can be used on any load bearing surface to improve the tribological performance by simply pasting the pristine SU-8 side onto the substrate.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.