Tribocatalytic Reaction of Polytetrafluoroethylene Sliding on an Aluminum Surface

To improve the tribological performance of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin sliding against a metallic surface, it is important to understand the chemical behavior of PTFE in this sliding system. The tribochemical reaction of PTFE on an aluminum surface has been strenuously studied by a series of computational chemistry methods [Onodera, T., et al. J. Phys. Chem. C 2014, 118, 5390–5396, and Onodera, T., et al. J. Phys. Chem. C 2014, 118, 11820–11826]. One of the most important insights was that PTFE reacted tribochemically with the oxidized surface of aluminum as a Lewis acid catalyst, forming a fluoride on the aluminum surface. The aluminum fluoride formed was a cause of decreasing tribological performance of PTFE because of less formation of a transfer film. In regard to this tribochemical reaction, it was suggested that preventing the fluoride formation is a key to improving the tribological performance of PTFE sliding against an aluminum surface. In this study, to investigate fluoride formation by...