MODIFICATION OF TRIBOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF POLYARYLATE BY SUPERCRITICAL-FLUID IMPREGNATION OF COPPER(II) HEXAFLUOROACETYLACETONATE

Polyarylate has been used as a model polymer to study its tribological property alteration during impregnation of copper(II) hexafluoroacety lacetonate in a supercritical carbon dioxide environment followed by t hermal decomposition of the copper compound in air. The initial, impre gnated and thermally treated polymer samples were tested by various tr ibological techniques to compare their wear resistance, friction coeff icient f(k) and surface microhardness H. SEM, EDX and ESCA have been a pplied to determine surface and internal domain morphology, profiles o f copper complex concentration, its types and influence on the tribolo gical properties of the samples. Dramatic surface layer modification a nd significant enhancement of its wear resistance (more than 400%) due to this process have been observed and discussed.