Abstract

Concentrated polymer brushes (CPBs) are promising soft-material coatings for improving tribological properties under severe sliding conditions, even in the macroscopic scale. Therefore, they are expected to be applied to mechanical sliding components. However, the durability of CPBs has remained challenging for industrial applications. Previous studies revealed that applying a groove texture to the CPB substrate is effective in improving the durability of CPBs. In order to achieve further improvement of durability of CPBs, we attempted to apply nano-periodic structures, whereas the groove texture applied in previous studies has widths and depths in micrometres. In this study, the effect of the nano-periodic structure in addition to the groove texture applied to the CPB substrate on the durability of CPB is investigated. The results demonstrate a significant improvement in the durability of CPBs by up to 90% compared with non-textured CPB when an appropriate nano-periodic structure is applied (i.e. a nano-periodic structure oriented parallel to the groove texture).

Graphic Abstract

中文翻译：

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通过多尺度纹理提高浓缩聚合物刷子的耐用性

摘要

浓缩聚合物刷 (CPB) 是一种很有前途的软材料涂层，可在严重滑动条件下改善摩擦学性能，即使在宏观尺度上也是如此。因此，它们有望应用于机械滑动部件。然而，CPB 的耐用性对于工业应用仍然具有挑战性。先前的研究表明，在 CPB 基材上应用凹槽纹理可有效提高 CPB 的耐用性。为了进一步提高 CPB 的耐久性，我们尝试应用纳米周期结构，而先前研究中应用的凹槽纹理的宽度和深度为微米。在这项研究中，除了应用于 CPB 基板的凹槽纹理之外，纳米周期结构对 CPB 耐久性的影响也进行了研究。

图形摘要