Effect of MoO3/carbon nanotubes on friction and wear performance of glass fabric-reinforced epoxy composites under dry sliding

Abstract A hybrid material composed of MoO3 nanobelts and oxide multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MoO3-CNTs) was prepared via a one-step hydrothermal method. A modified vacuum filtration technique was used to prepare uniform MoO3-CNTs films (f-MoO3-CNTs). These MoO3-CNTs and f-MoO3-CNTs were used to enhance the tribological properties of a glass fabric-reinforced epoxy (GF/EP) composite prepared using the vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) method. Wear tests were carried out by using a ball-on-disc (“steel-on-polymer”) configuration under dry sliding conditions. The hybrid material acted as both the lubrication and reinforcement to improve the friction and wear performance of the GF/EP composite. The frictional coefficient decreased from 0.61 for the neat GF/EP composite to 0.50 for MoO3-CNTs/GF/EP and to 0.32 for f-MoO3-CNTs/GF/EP. The wear resistance of the GF/EP composite improved by about four times with the addition of f-MoO3-CNTs. The morphologies of the worn surfaces of the composites and their possible wear micro-mechanisms were investigated.