Investigation of tribological properties of graphene oxide reinforced ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene under artificial seawater lubricating condition

摘要

Graphical abstractDisplay OmittedHighlights•The incorporation of GO not only increased the crystallinity of UHMWPE, but also improved the wettability of UHMWPE.•Ultra-low water absorption, good wettability and corrosion resistance shows that UHMWPE/GO composites are suitable for using in seawater environments.•The incorporation of GO can greatly decrease the wear rate of UHMWPE under different lubricating conditions.•UHMWPE/GO composites exhibits excellent wear resistance under seawater lubricating condition.AbstractA range of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites were fabricated using liquid-phase ultrasonication mixing followed by hot-pressing. The wettability, water absorption and corrosion resistance of composites were studied to prove the composites were suitable for application in liquid environment. The tribological properties of composites under dry, deionized water and seawater lubricating condition were investigated. The results showed that the incorporation of GO decreased the wear rate of UHMWPE under different lubricating conditions and with the increase of GO addition, the wear rate of UHMWPE/GO composites decreased. UHMWPE/GO composites exhibited better tribological behaviors under seawater lubricating condition than other conditions, because good corrosion resistance and excellent wear resistance of UHMWPE/GO composites, and the lubricating effect of seawater is also indispensable.