Effects of Incorporation of Organic Montmorillonite on Improving the Wear Resistance of Nylon 66/Glass Fiber Based Composites and the Mechanisms

Different content of organic montmorillonite was added into Nylon 66/glass fiber composites to improve the wear resistance of the composites. It found that the wear loss and wear rate of the nylon 66/glass fiber composites with 0.5 wt% organic montmorillonite were only 8.83 mg and 0.52%, reduced by 25.4% and 29.3% compared with the nylon 66/glass fiber composite without organic montmorillonite. Moreover, the friction curves of nylon 66/glass fiber/organic montmorillonite composites with a small coefficient of friction entered the stable friction stage quickly. Especially, the glass fiber in nylon 66/glass fiber/organic montmorillonite composites was arranged more regularly and was worn less as shown in the images of SEM. The wear resistance mechanisms of the nylon 66/glass fiber/organic montmorillonite composites were regarded as that organic montmorillonite with self-lubricating effect oriented in the nylon 66/glass fiber composites and enhanced the crystallinity of the nylon 66 matrix. Moreover, organic montmorillonite aggregated on the surface of glass fiber due to the hydrogen bonds between organic montmorillonite and glass fiber, resulting in the orientation of glass fiber, the increase of the flowability of the composites, and the decrease of the "floating fiber" problems. Thus, this work revealed that when there were glass fiber and organic montmorillonite in nylon 66, the interaction between glass fiber and organic montmorillonite had an obvious effect on the wear resistance of the composites.