Effects of thermal aging on the blend phase morphology and tribological performance of PI/UHMWPE blend composites.

Effects of thermal aging on the blend phase morphology of polyimide/ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (PI/UHMWPE) blend composites were studied by using Raman Mapping. Friction and wear tests were conducted to study the influence of thermal aging on the tribological properties of the blend composites. The results indicate that the phase morphology of PI/UHMWPE blend composites could be controlled by thermal aging. At relatively low thermal aging temperatures (100 °C, 120 °C), the blend with high PI/UHMWPE ratio tended to form continuous layered structures. As a consequence, the tribological performance was significantly improved. While for the blend with low PI/UHMWPE ratio, the improvement of tribological performance was not significant. For the blends thermal aged at relatively high temperature (150 °C), the tribological performance was poor due to significant phase separation that occurred after thermal aging. • Thermal oxidation resistance of UHMWPE could be significantly improved by blending PI to the UHMWPE matrix. • The phase morphology of PI/UHMWPE blend composites could be controlled by thermal aging. • The wear resistance of PI/UHMWPE blend was improved after thermal aging at the temperature below melting point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]