Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T08:54:27.195Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Highly wear resistant chemisorbed polar ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene thin film on Si surface for micro-system applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Nalam Satyanarayana ,
Sujeet K. Sinha  and
Seh-Chun Lim
Nalam Satyanarayana
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576
Sujeet K. Sinha*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576
Seh-Chun Lim
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

We report deposition and tribological studies of a chemisorbed UHMWPE (ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene) film on an Si surface. UHMWPE molecules containing carboxyl and hydroxyl chemical groups were chemisorbed onto an Si surface using an intermediate GPTMS SAM (glycidoxypropyltrimethoxy silane self-assembled monolayer) layer. The carboxyl and hydroxyl groups of UHMWPE molecules react with the terminal epoxy groups of GPTMS SAM during chemisorption. The resultant film (∼1.4 µm thick) has shown low coefficient of friction (∼0.1) and high wear life (exceeding 100,000 cycles) in a sliding test against a 4 mm diameter Si3N4 ball at a normal load of 0.3 N and a sliding velocity of 0.042 m/s measured on a micro-tribometer. In contrast, bare Si or GPTMS SAM modified Si has shown a higher coefficient of friction and failed within a few tens of sliding cycles. The high wear durability of the chemisorbed polymer film is attributed to the excellent adhesion of the UHMWPE film with the substrate due to chemisorption and to the good lubrication properties of UHMWPE molecules. This wear resistant film has potential applications in micro-electro-mechanical systems made of Si.

Keywords

PolymerThin filmTribology
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 24 , Issue 11 , November 2009 , pp. 3331 - 3337
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Satyanarayana, N. and Sinha, S.K.: Tribology of PFPE overcoated self-assembled monolayers deposited on Si surface. J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 38, 3512 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Satyanarayana, N., Sinha, S.K., and Shen, L.: Effect of molecular structure on friction and wear of polymer thin films deposited on Si surface. Tribol. Lett. 28, 71 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Satyanarayana, N., Lau, K.H., and Sinha, S.K.: Nanolubrication of poly (methyl methacrylate) films on Si for microelectromechanical systems applications. Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 261906 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Nakano, M., Ishida, T., Numata, T., Ando, Y., and Sasaki, S.: Tribological behavior of self-assembled double layer measured by a pin-on-plate method. Appl. Surf. Sci. 242, 287 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Ahn, H-S., Julthongpiput, D., Kim, D-I., and Tsukruk, V.V.: Dramatic enhancement of wear stability in oil-enriched polymer gel nanolayers. Wear 255, 801 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6.Satyanarayana, N., Rajan, K.S.S., Sinha, S.K., and Shen, L.: Carbon nanotube reinforced polyimide thin-film for high wear durability. Tribol. Lett. 27, 181 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Satyanarayana, N., Sinha, S.K., and Ong, B.H.: Tribology of a novel UHMWPE/PFPE dual-film coated onto Si surface. Sens. Actuators, A 128, 98 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Ao, Y-H., Sun, S-L., Tan, Z-Y., Zhou, C., Xu, N., Tang, K., Yang, H-D., and Zhang, H-X.: Polymer blends of PBT and PP compatibilized by epoxidized ethylene propylene diene rubber. Polym. Bull. 58, 447 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Kim, J.K. and Lee, H.: The effect of PS-GMA as an in situ compatibilizer on the morphology and rheological properties of the immiscible PBT/PS blend. Polymer 37, 305 (1996).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Satyanarayana, N., Gosvami, N.N., Sinha, S.K., and Srinivasan, M.P.: Friction, adhesion and wear durability studies of an ultra-thin perfluoropolyether-coated 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxy silane self-assembled monolayer on a Si surface. Philos. Mag. 87, 3209 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Lucas, B.N., Oliver, W.C., and Swindeman, J.E.: Dynamics of frequency-specific depth-sensing indentation testing, in Fundamentals of Nanoindentation and Nanotribology, edited by Moody, N.R., Gerberich, W.W., Burnham, N., and Baker, S.P. (Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 522, Warrendale, PA, 1998), p. 3.Google Scholar
12.Oliver, W.C. and Pharr, G.M.: Measurement of hardness and elastic modulus by instrumented indentation: Advances in understanding and refinements to methodology. J. Mater. Res. 19, 3 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Luzinov, I., Julthongpiput, D., Liebmann-Vinson, A., Cregger, T., Foster, M.D., and Tsukruk, V.V.: Epoxy-terminated selfassembled monolayers: Molecular glues for polymer layers. Langmuir 16, 504 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Heuberger, M.P., Widmer, M.R., Zobeley, E., Glockshuber, R., and Spencer, N.D.: Protein-mediated boundary lubrication in arthroplasty. Biomaterials 26, 1165 (2005).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Chen, J.S., Sun, Z., Guo, P.S., Zhang, Z.B., Zhu, D.Z., and Xu, H.J.: Effect of ion implantation on surface energy of ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene. J. Appl. Phys. 93, 5103 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Contact Angle, Wettability and Adhesion: Festschrift, edited by Mittal, K.L., 1st ed. (VSP International Science Publishers, Utrecht, 1993).Google Scholar
17.Satyanarayana, N.: Tribology of organic self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) and thin-films on Si surface. Ph.D. Thesis, National University of Singapore, 2007.Google Scholar
18.Briscoe, B.J., Fiori, L., and Pelillo, E.: Nano-indentation of polymeric surfaces. J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 31, 2395 (1998).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Dong, H., Bell, T., Blawert, C., and Mordike, B.L.: Plasma immersion ion implantation of UHMWPE. J. Mater. Sci. Lett. 19, 1147 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20.Kurtz, S.M.: The UHMWPE Handbook: Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene in Total Joint Replacement, 1st ed. (Elsevier Academic Press, Boston, MA, 2004).Google Scholar
21.Hutchings, I.M.: Tribology: Friction and Wear of Engineering Materials, 1st ed. (Edward Arnold, London, 1992), p. 15.Google Scholar