Antifrictional nanocomposites based on chemically modified UHMWPE. Part 3. Comparison of modification effect of compatibilizers on mechanical and tribotechnical properties

Two compatibilizers-vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS) and maleic anhydride (SMA)-are subjected to comparative analysis in respect to their effect on the mechanical and tribological properties of the composites based on chemically modified UHMWPE. The methods of IR spectroscopy, scanning differential calorimetry, and electronic microscopy are used to study the supermolecular structure of nanocomposites on the base of UHMWPE block-copolymer + 10% UHMWPE-g-VTMS. The mechanical and tribotechnical properties of these nanocomposites are further compared to those of the nanocomposites based on UHMWPE + 10% HDPE-g-SMA. It is shown that the nanocomposites based on block-copolymers with the mentioned compatibilizers have similar (spherulitic) structure and roughly equal wear resistance, being close to those of the composites based on the non-modified polymer. The wear resistance of the nanocomposites on the base of UHMWPE depends on whether the fillers are present and distributed evenly in the matrix. This defines the crystallization conditions and, as a consequence, the type of the formed supermolecular structure.