A NEW ANTIWEAR ADDITIVE SURFACE PRETREATMENT FOR PFPE LIQUID LUBRICANTS

Pin-on-disk tribology experiments were conducted on a perfluoropolyalk ylether (PFPE) liquid lubricant with and without a new PFPE lubricant antiwear additive material: a silane. It was found that the silane pro vided moderate improvement in the antiwear performance of the PFPE lub ricant when applied to the metallic surface as a surface coating or wh en added to the PFPE as a dispersion (emulsion). Slightly better resul ts were obtained by using the combination of a surface coating and an emulsion of the silane. The silane emulsions or coatings did not affec t the friction properties of the lubricant. Micro-Fourier transformati on infrared (mu FTIR) spectroscopy analysis was performed to study sil ane transfer films and the degradation of the PFPE. The silane was fou nd to mitigate degradation of the PFPE which may have been the major r eason for the improved antiwear performance observed.