KINOSHITA HIROSHI

Improving the wear resistance of polvmer-based materials can lead to high energy efficiency' of transport machineries owing to the higher strength-to-weight ratio. Oxidized wood-utilized synthesized copper-based particles (OWCu) was incorporated into epoxv resin to investigate its effect on the wear resistance of OWCu-incorporated epoxy with the steel counterpart using a ball-on-plate tribometer. OWCu was mainly composed of CuO with a small amount of graphitic carbon, and the average partide size was approximately∗ 0.5 um. A higher wear resistance was observed for the OWCu-incorporated epoxv at more than 0.6 mass% compared to the neat epoxv. The mechanism for the improvement of the wear resistance property was discussed, and it was revealed that the surface roughness of the steel counterpart was maintained at a low level for the OWCu-incorporated epoxy', which played a dominant role in reducing the wear of the OWCu-incorporated epoxv. The polishing effect of OWCu could reduce the surface roughness of the steel counterpart in the friction process. In addition, at higher concentrations of more than 5.0 mass%, OWCu adhered to the steel surface, which decreased the wear of the steel surface. OWCu is a promising material to enhance the wear resistance of polvmer-based materials, especially with low elongation.

A substantial quantity of carbon onions in a durable film state is indispensable for its applications. In this study, large area fabrication of closely packed homogeneous carbon onion nanoparticle film using plasma-based ion implantation was demonstrated. Ag film deposited on a Si substrate was used as the implantation target for the hydrocarbon ions accelerated at 20 kV. Nanoparticles with the mean diameter of 7.5 nm were formed at the grain boundary of the Ag film. Carbon onions with the mean diameter of 17.4 nm were synthesized and arranged to a closely packed nanoparticle film with the thickness of around 200 nm by gradual thermal vaporization of the Ag. The closely packed configuration was achieved due to the isolated growth of carbon onion nanoparticle and high uniformity of the diameter. This process can be used in principle large area formation compered to typical ion implantation technique of carbon onion nanoparticle film, which can be applicable for the practical use in mechanical and electrochemical applications.

Graphene oxide (GO) and oxidized wood-derived nanocarbon (oWNC) were dispersed in an epoxy resin to improve the mechanical and tribological properties of an epoxy resin. Mechanical properties of the GO/epoxy (GO/EP) and oWNC/epoxy composites (oWNC/EP) were investigated by tensile tests and nano-indentation. Under dry, water, and oil lubrication conditions, friction coefficients and wear volumes of these composites were measured. GO has single-layered structure. oWNC has chain-like nanostructures, and the nanochains are aggregated. GO and oWNCs have same surface chemical composition due to the same oxidation treatment. Thus, in this study, the structure and morphology dependences of the nanocarbons in mechanical and tribological properties will be appeared when the nanocarbons were used as the additives in the resin. The tensile strength, tensile modulus, and hardness increased by 20%, 63%, and 35% in maximum by the addition of GO and oWNC to the epoxy resin, respectively. Moreover, the wear resistance of GO/EP and oWNC/EP was enhanced compared to that of a neat epoxy. The reduction rates of the wear volume for 5.0 mass% GO/EP and 1.0 mass% oWNC/EP achieved to 91% and 67%, respectively. Comparing GO and oWNC, oWNC effectively reduced the friction coefficient and wear at a lower concentration. The improvement of tribological properties after the addition of the oxidized nanocarbons can be attributed to the increase in the hardness and lubricity of the composites.