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If polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), commonly known as Teflon, is put into contact and rubbed against another material, almost surely it will be more effective than its counterpart in collecting negative charges. This simple, basic property is captured by the so called triboelectric series, where PTFE ranks extremely high, and that qualitatively orders materials in terms of their ability to electrostatically charge upon contact and rubbing. However, while classifying materials, the series does not provide an explanation of their triboelectric strength, besides a loose correlation with the workfunction. Indeed, despite being an extremely familiar process, known from centuries, tribocharging is still elusive and not fully understood. In this work we employ density functional theory to look for the origin of PTFE tribocharging strength. We study how charge transfers when pristine or defective PTFE is put in contact with different clean and oxidized metals. Our results show the important role played by defects in enhancing charge transfer. Interestingly and unexpectedly our results show that negatively charged chains are more stable than neutral ones, if slightly bent. Indeed deformations can be easily promoted in polymers as PTFE, especially in tribological contacts. These results suggest that, in designing materials in view of their triboelectric properties, the characteristics of their defects could be a performance determining factor.

It has recently been shown that rectangular surface pockets are effective in reducing friction in a piston–liner type contact, providing that they are oriented with their long axis transverse to th...

This paper presents an experimental study into the flow behaviour of lubricant in a reciprocating contact simulating a piston ring–cylinder liner pair. The aim was to understand the effects of cavitation, starvation and surface texture, as well as the interaction between these, in order to improve automotive engine performance. A custom-built test rig was used, in which a section of piston ring is loaded against a reciprocating, laser-textured, fused silica pad representing the liner. A fluorescence microscope focusses through the silica specimen onto the contact in order to image the distribution of dyed oil. Tests were performed using a range of texture geometries and orientations, under starved and fully-flooded lubrication conditions, with measurements being compared against those from a non-textured reference. Under limited oil supply conditions, the non-textured reciprocating contact sweeps oil towards the reversal points (TDC and BDC), leading to starvation and increased friction. This issue is alleviated by the presence of surface texturing, with each pocket transferring oil from the inlet to the outlet of the contact as it passes; the result being 33% lower friction and oil distributed evenly over the liner surface. Even under fully flooded conditions, starvation is shown to occur following each reversal, as the change in sliding direction causes the cavitated outlet to become the oil-deprived inlet. This proof of cavitation-reversal-starvation, which occurs for up to the first 5% of the stroke length, depending on the lubricant’s viscosity, corresponds to regions of high wear, measured in this study and on actual cylinder liners reported in the literature. This process is also counteracted by the presence of surface texture, with each pocket depositing oil into the cavitated region prior to reversal. Fluorescence data also provides insights into other mechanisms with which different textures geometries control friction. Grooves oriented parallel to sliding direction increase friction as they appear to connect the high pressure inlet with the low pressure outlet, leading to oil film collapse. Grooves oriented transverse to sliding direction produce localised cavitation inside each pocket, which supports the theory that texture draws lubricant into the contact through the ‘inlet suction’ mechanism. These findings can aid texture design by showing how pockets can be used in practice to simultaneously control oil consumption, and reduce friction and wear along the stroke. It should be noted that the lubricant transport mechanisms described above should also result from other types of depressions, such those produced by porous coatings (provided they are smaller than the contact area).

Triboemission – i.e. the emission of photons, electrons and other charged particles that arise from a sliding contact – may play a key role in tribochemical processes, such as lubricant degradation. However, the mechanisms that give rise to this type of emission are not well understood. For the first time, we present spatially resolved measurements of electron emission, obtained as a range materials are worn. These are obtained from scratch tests, carried out under vacuum conditions (10−5 Torr), in which microchannel plates coupled to a phosphor screen are used to image electron emission. The results show that electron emission occurs at specific locations on the worn surface and, depending on the conductivity of the material, these sites remain active and decay with a time constant of up to several seconds. SEM images of the worn surface at these sites reveal that either surface fractures or grain defects are present. This suggests that fractoemission mechanisms are at least partially responsible for triboemission (however, the possible contribution of tribocharging mechanisms are also discussed). Specifically, this provides evidence to support the theory that triboemission results from the imbalance of charge on opposing faces of wear cracks and that this generates an electric field sufficient to accelerate molecular fracture products, which then bombard the surface leading to secondary emission. The strong geometric correlation between damage topography and electron emission distributions shows the potential of using this technique to monitoring wear and crack formation in real time and under high (30x) magnification.

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is one of the most efficient polymers for green energy-harvesting devices like triboelectric nanogenerators because of its high capability of acquiring and retaining negative charge. Despite its extensive use, the relation between PTFE triboelectric behavior and its electronic properties has never been analyzed. To shed light on this important feature, we have studied the electronic properties of PTFE low-index surfaces in the high-pressure phase by means of density functional theory. We start by showing that adding either a positive or a negative charge on pristine surfaces is energetically unfavorable. We then demonstrate the role played by surface defects. When a surface fluorine vacancy is introduced, the analysis of the band structure reveals that the defect generates a trap state that enables the surface to acquire and retain negative charge.

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), commercially known as Teflon, is one the most effective insulating polymers for a wide range of applications because of its peculiar electronic, mechanical, and thermal properties. Several studies have attempted to elucidate the structural and electronic properties of PTFE; however, some important aspects of its structural and electronic characteristics are still under debate. To shed light on these fundamental features, we have employed a first-principles approach to optimize the two coexisting PTFE structures (monoclinic and orthorhombic) at high pressure by using the characteristic zigzag planar chain configuration. Our electronic analysis of the optimized structures shows charge transfer from carbons to fluorines, supporting the PTFE electronegative character. In addition, band structure calculations show that the band gap is estimated to be around 5 eV, which correlates with previous studies. Moreover, the analysis of the valence and conduction states reveals an intrachain and an interchain character of the charge distribution, suggesting additional insights into the PTFE electronic properties.

We present a study on the simultaneous evolution of the electron emission and surface charge accumulation that occurs during scratching tests in order to monitor coating failure. Steel discs coated with a diamond-like-carbon (DLC) film were scratched in both vacuum (~10−5 Torr) and atmospheric conditions, with electron emission and surface charge being measured by a system of microchannel plates and an electrometer, respectively. The results highlight a positive correlation between emission intensity values, surface charge measurements and surface damage topography, suggesting the effective use of these techniques to monitor coating wear in real time.