Thermal, hardness, and tribological assessment of PEEK/CoCr composites
Abstract Poly(ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK) is a high-performance thermoplastic with excellent mechanical strength, thermal stability, and chemical resistance, making it attractive for applications like biomedical implants and prostheses. However, neat PEEK suffers from a high friction coefficient and...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-14776-5 |
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| author | Bakytzhan Sariyev Andas Amrin Aiat Mergenbay H. Jeevan Rao Aigerim Khabdulayeva Christos Spitas Boris Golman |
| author_facet | Bakytzhan Sariyev Andas Amrin Aiat Mergenbay H. Jeevan Rao Aigerim Khabdulayeva Christos Spitas Boris Golman |
| author_sort | Bakytzhan Sariyev |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Poly(ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK) is a high-performance thermoplastic with excellent mechanical strength, thermal stability, and chemical resistance, making it attractive for applications like biomedical implants and prostheses. However, neat PEEK suffers from a high friction coefficient and pronounced wear in sliding contacts. In this work, composites of PEEK with Cobalt-Chromium (CoCr) alloy powder were fabricated by centrifugal powder compaction and vacuum sintering. Four composite compositions, with weight percentages of 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% of CoCr, were produced. Scanning electron microscopy analysis confirmed uniform dispersion of CoCr particles within the PEEK matrix. Differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis showed that CoCr addition did not significantly alter PEEK’s melting temperature or thermal stability. Microhardness increased with filler loading, with the 40% CoCr composite achieving a 40% hardness improvement over neat PEEK. Ball-on-disk tests against steel revealed that all composites exhibited significantly reduced wear loss by 84% compared to neat PEEK, while maintaining a friction coefficient typical for PEEK-steel contacts. Overall, the PEEK/CoCr composites demonstrate enhanced hardness and wear resistance while retaining PEEK’s favorable thermal properties, suggesting their potential for applications requiring better tribological performance than unfilled PEEK. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d2bd5d1d7c904098b452a4e043d092ce |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-d2bd5d1d7c904098b452a4e043d092ce2025-08-20T04:03:07ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-08-0115111510.1038/s41598-025-14776-5Thermal, hardness, and tribological assessment of PEEK/CoCr compositesBakytzhan Sariyev0Andas Amrin1Aiat Mergenbay2H. Jeevan Rao3Aigerim Khabdulayeva4Christos Spitas5Boris Golman6Department of Computational and Data Sciences, Astana IT UniversityNazarbayev University Research AdministrationNazarbayev University Research AdministrationNazarbayev University Research AdministrationNazarbayev University Research AdministrationDepartment of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of NottinghamDepartment of Chemical and Materials Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev UniversityAbstract Poly(ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK) is a high-performance thermoplastic with excellent mechanical strength, thermal stability, and chemical resistance, making it attractive for applications like biomedical implants and prostheses. However, neat PEEK suffers from a high friction coefficient and pronounced wear in sliding contacts. In this work, composites of PEEK with Cobalt-Chromium (CoCr) alloy powder were fabricated by centrifugal powder compaction and vacuum sintering. Four composite compositions, with weight percentages of 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% of CoCr, were produced. Scanning electron microscopy analysis confirmed uniform dispersion of CoCr particles within the PEEK matrix. Differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis showed that CoCr addition did not significantly alter PEEK’s melting temperature or thermal stability. Microhardness increased with filler loading, with the 40% CoCr composite achieving a 40% hardness improvement over neat PEEK. Ball-on-disk tests against steel revealed that all composites exhibited significantly reduced wear loss by 84% compared to neat PEEK, while maintaining a friction coefficient typical for PEEK-steel contacts. Overall, the PEEK/CoCr composites demonstrate enhanced hardness and wear resistance while retaining PEEK’s favorable thermal properties, suggesting their potential for applications requiring better tribological performance than unfilled PEEK.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-14776-5PEEKCobalt-Chromium alloyPowder metallurgyTribological performanceMicrohardnessThermal stability |
| spellingShingle | Bakytzhan Sariyev Andas Amrin Aiat Mergenbay H. Jeevan Rao Aigerim Khabdulayeva Christos Spitas Boris Golman Thermal, hardness, and tribological assessment of PEEK/CoCr composites Scientific Reports PEEK Cobalt-Chromium alloy Powder metallurgy Tribological performance Microhardness Thermal stability |
| title | Thermal, hardness, and tribological assessment of PEEK/CoCr composites |
| title_full | Thermal, hardness, and tribological assessment of PEEK/CoCr composites |
| title_fullStr | Thermal, hardness, and tribological assessment of PEEK/CoCr composites |
| title_full_unstemmed | Thermal, hardness, and tribological assessment of PEEK/CoCr composites |
| title_short | Thermal, hardness, and tribological assessment of PEEK/CoCr composites |
| title_sort | thermal hardness and tribological assessment of peek cocr composites |
| topic | PEEK Cobalt-Chromium alloy Powder metallurgy Tribological performance Microhardness Thermal stability |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-14776-5 |
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