Nanotribological characterization of industrial Polytetrafluorethylene-based coatings by atomic force microscopy

TL;DR

This study systematically characterizes the nanotribological properties of industrial PTFE-based coatings using atomic force microscopy, revealing how additives and humidity affect friction and adhesion at the microscale.

Contribution

It introduces a new protocol for reliable quantitative assessment of tribological properties of industrial coatings at the nanoscale.

Findings

Additives influence friction and adhesion forces.

Humidity affects tribological behavior.

The protocol enables analysis of highly corrugated samples.

Abstract

We present the result of a systematic study of the tribological properties of industrial Polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE)-based coatings carried out with an atomic force microscope. A new characterization protocol allowed the reliable and quantitative assessment of the friction coefficient and adhesion forces at the sub-micrometer scale even for highly corrugated industrial samples. We have studied and compared PTFE coatings charged with different additives in dry and humid environment. The influence of additives and humidity on the friction coefficient and on adhesion forces has been investigated using standard silicon nitride tips as sliders in the low-load regime.