Polymer tribology by combining ion implantation and radionuclide tracing

HEIKO TIMMERS, LAURA G. GLADKIS, JACOB A. WARNER, AIDAN P. BYRNE, MARIELA F. DEL GROSSO, CLAUDIA R. ARBEITMAN, GERARDO GARCIA-BERMUDEZ, THOMAS GERUSCHKE, REINER VIANDEN

NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH B - BEAM INTERACTIONS WITH MATERIALS AND ATOMS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2010 vol. 268 p. 2119 - 2123

0168-583X

Radionuclide tracers were ion implanted with three different techniques into the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene polymer. Tracer nuclei of 7Be were produced with inverse kinematics via the reaction p(>7Li,>7Be)n and caught by polymer samples at a forward scattering angle with a maximum implantation energy of 16 MeV. For the first time, 97Ru, 100Pd, and, independently, 111In have been used as radionuclide tracers in ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. 97Ru and 100Pd were recoil-implanted following the fusion evaporation reactions 92Zr(12C,97Ru and 2Zr(12C,4n)100Pd with a maximum implantation energy of 8 MeV. 111In ions were produced in an ion source, mass-separated and implanted at 160 keV. The tribology of implanted polymer samples was studied by tracing the radionuclide during mechanical wear. Uni-directional and bi-directional sliding apparatus with stainless steel actuators were used. Results suggest a debris exchange process as the characteristic feature of the This process can establish the steady state required for a subsequently constant wear rate in agreement with Archard’s equation. The nano-scale implantation of mass-separated 111In appears best suited to the study of non-linear tribological processes during . Such non-linear processes may be expected to be important in micro- and nanomachines.