Halloysite‒gold core‒shell nanosystem synergistically enhances thermal conductivity and mechanical properties to optimize the wear-resistance of a pheonlic-PBO/PTFE textile composite liner

Polymer-textile liner composites have potential applications in aerospace applications for reducing the abrasion damage of moving parts during operation owing to their self-lubrication, light weight, and high loading capacity. Herein, Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) are successfully loaded into the lumen of halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) to construct an HNTs‒Au peasecod core‒shell nanosystem to optimize the wear resistance of phenolic resin-based poly(p-phenylene benzobisoxazole) (PBO)/polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) textile composites. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) characterization reveals that the AuNPs are well-dispersed inside the HNTs, with an average diameter of 6‒9 nm. The anti-wear performance of the HNTs and Au-reinforced PBO/PTFE composites is evaluated using a pin-on-disk friction tester at 100 MPa. Evidently, the addition of HNTs‒Au induces a 27.9% decrease in the wear rate of the composites. Possible anti-wear mechanisms are proposed based on the analyzed results of the worn surface morphology and the cross-section of the tribofilm obtained by focused ion beam transmission electron microscopy.