Construction of a PTFE-based lubricant film on the surface of Nomex/PTFE fabric to enhance the tribological performance at cryogenic temperatures

Hybrid fabric composites with self-lubricating properties have been applied to various joint bearing liners, especially under cryogenic temperature conditions where liquid lubricant fails. Herein, we report a novel Nomex/polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fabric composite with a hierarchical distribution of PTFE by sintering a layer of PTFE/MoS2 coating. The tribological properties of the PMS composite were investigated over a temperature range from − 150–25 ℃ on a pin-on-disk tribometer. The results show that the friction coefficient of the PMS composite has a nonmonotonic relationship with temperature, which is related to the molecular conformation and mobility of PTFE at different temperatures. The wear of the PMS composite decreased with decreasing temperature, exhibiting an unmeasurable ‘zero wear’ at − 150 °C.