Epoxy resin is one of the most widely used thermoset polymers in high-performance composite materials for lightweight applications. However, epoxy has a high coefficient of friction, which limits its tribological applications. In this study, the effect was investigated of different weight fractions of solid lubricant graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), ranging from 0 to 4.5 wt%, on mechanical and adhesive wear performance of epoxy. Adhesive wear tests covered mild and severe wear regimes. The correlation of tribological and mechanical properties was studied as well. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the failure mechanisms for both tribological and mechanical samples after each test. The results revealed that the addition of GNPs to the epoxy improved its stiffness and hardness but reduced its fracture strength and toughness. Adhesive wear performance exhibited high efficiency with GNP additions and showed reductions in the specific wear rate, the coefficient of friction, and the induced interface temperature by 76%, 37%, and 22%, respectively. A fatigue wear mechanism was predominant as the applied load increased. Most importantly, severe wear signs occurred when the interface temperature reached the heat distortion temperature of the epoxy. The tribological, and mechanical properties showed only a weak correlation to each other. The addition of GNPs to epoxy by less than 4.5 wt% was highly efficient to improve the wear performance while maintaining the fracture strength and toughness. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis shows no chemical interaction between the epoxy matrix with GNPs, which implies its physical interaction.

环氧树脂是用于轻型应用的高性能复合材料中使用最广泛的热固性聚合物之一。然而，环氧树脂具有高摩擦系数，这限制了其摩擦学应用。在这项研究中，研究了固体润滑剂石墨烯纳米片（GNP）的不同重量分数（范围为0至4.5 wt％）对环氧树脂的机械性能和胶粘剂磨损性能的影响。胶粘剂磨损测试涵盖了轻度和重度磨损情况。还研究了摩擦学和力学性能的相关性。每次测试后，使用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）观察摩擦学和机械样品的失效机理。结果表明，向环氧树脂中添加GNP可以提高其刚度和硬度，但会降低其断裂强度和韧性。粘合剂的磨损性能在添加GNP时表现出很高的效率，并且比磨损率，摩擦系数和诱导界面温度分别降低了76％，37％和22％。随着施加载荷的增加，疲劳磨损机理是主要的。最重要的是，当界面温度达到环氧树脂的热变形温度时，就会出现严重的磨损痕迹。摩擦学性能和机械性能仅显示出较弱的相关性。在环氧树脂中添加少于4.5 wt％的GNP可以非常有效地改善磨损性能，同时保持断裂强度和韧性。傅立叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）分析显示环氧基质与GNP之间没有化学相互作用，这表明其物理相互作用。