Mechanical and Tribotechnical Characteristics of Nanocomposites Based on Mixture of Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Polyethylene and Polypropylene

The aim of the study is to design wear-resistant and extrudable polymeric composites based on mixture of UHMWPE+PP with increased tribotechnical characteristics for the wide application in friction units of machine parts and mechanisms as well as using the polymeric resin developed for obtaining nanocomposites. Adding of block copolymer PP-b LLDPE to UHMWPE is motivated by the necessity to increase the adhesion between the incompatible polymeric components of the mixture. It is shown that wear intensity of the polymer-polymeric composites UHMWPE+n wt.% PP-b-LLDPE is reduced at filling UHMWPE by the block copolymer. In doing so, an important technological characteristic of UHMWPE specific extrusion pressure (proportional to the melt flow index) is improved (is lowered). Nanocomposites on the basis of the given matrix have shown wear resistance of 3-4 times higher in contrast with pure UHMWPE. Permolecular structure and wear track surfaces of nanocomposites on the basis of polymer-polymeric matrix (UHMWPE+10 wt.% PP-b-LLDPE) were investigated. The mechanism of the wear of nanocomposites is discussed.