Abstract
High velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) combustion spraying has previously been shown to be a viable method for depositing polymer and polymer/ceramic composite coatings. The addition of hard particulate reinforcing phases to soft polymeric matrices should improve their durability and wear performance. Nano-sized diamond is an ideal reinforcing phase, owing to its high hardness and desirable thermal properties. Composite coatings comprising a Nylon-11 matrix reinforced with nanodiamonds have been successfully produced by HVOF. An important challenge is preserving the structure of the nanoparticles after thermal spray deposition and achieving a uniform dispersion of them within the polymeric matrix. Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction confirmed the presence and retention of nanodiamonds after HVOF deposition. Understanding of the role of variables including the % loading of reinforcing phase in the matrix and powder preparation route are necessary. The coatings exhibited improved sliding wear resistance in macromechanical tests. Nanoindentation studies demonstrated an improvement in deformation behavior and recovery of the HVOF nanodiamond Nylon-11/nanodiamond composites subjected to deformation.
