Tribological properties of epoxy/polyurea composite

The tribological behavior of epoxy/polyurea composite under dry friction was investigated. The worn surface morphologies of epoxy and epoxy/polyurea composite have been analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the functional group of epoxy and epoxy/polyurea composite before and after wear have been analyzed by a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR). It has been found that epoxy terminal groups, which exist in an epoxy molecule, can react with the end group amine of the polyurea copolymer, generating more H-O bonds, which enhances the deformation capacity. Polyurea particles are dispersed uniformly in epoxy matrix before wear, while plastic deformation and distorted domains occur on the worn surface of epoxy/polyurea composite. This indicates that the wear resistance of epoxy/polyurea composite was greatly improved by the addition of polyurea elastomer, which led to low frictional coefficients and wear mass losses. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.