Although main-chain thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) has been extensively investigated as self-reinforcing composites, tribological application is rarely reported. This paper explores tribological enhancement effect of LCP on representative matrix poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF). Moreover, structures of PVDF/LCP blends are assessed in detail. Due to immiscibility, LCP in blends is uniformly dispersed in the form of particles or microfibrils, dependent on LCP content. Besides, LCP improves storage modulus of PVDF. Most importantly, tribological performance of PVDF is obviously promoted. Compared with neat PVDF, the wear rate, coefficient of friction and oscillation amplitude of blend containing 20 wt% LCP simultaneously decrease by 97.7%, 80.7% and 80.2%, respectively. In particular, frequency-enhancement phenomenon is observed. By probing worn PVDF domains with nanoindentation test and atomic force microscopy (AFM), preliminary tribological enhancement mechanism of LCP is unveiled. Overall, this finding provides a new, but promising lubrication route of polymer.

尽管主链热致液晶聚合物（LCP）作为自增强复合材料已得到广泛研究，但摩擦学应用很少报道。本文探讨了LCP对代表性基质聚偏二氟乙烯（PVDF）的摩擦学增强作用。此外，详细评估了PVDF / LCP共混物的结构。由于不混溶，取决于LCP含量，共混物中的LCP会以颗粒或微纤维的形式均匀分散。另外，LCP提高了PVDF的储能模量。最重要的是，PVDF的摩擦学性能得到明显提升。与纯PVDF相比，含有20 wt％LCP的共混物的磨损率，摩擦系数和振荡幅度分别降低了97.7％，80.7％和80.2％。特别地，观察到频率增强现象。通过用纳米压痕测试和原子力显微镜（AFM）探测磨损的PVDF域，揭示了LCP的初步摩擦增强机理。总体而言，这一发现提供了一种新的但很有希望的聚合物润滑途径。