Study of GnPs Embedded PA‐6,6 Composites: Insights Into Their Thermal Kinetic Study and Tribological Behavior Under Dry Sliding

ABSTRACT In recent years, polymer composites have attracted attention due to their diverse engineering applications, where friction and wear are critical concerns. In this study, the polyamide‐6,6 (PA‐6,6) composites were reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs) at different concentrations of 1, 3, 5, and 10 wt.%. Tests of morphological analysis, XRD analysis, thermal kinetics study, density and hardness, as well as tribology analysis, were conducted to assess the behavior of the PA‐6,6/GnPs composites. The composite exhibits a homogeneous morphology with good mixing and distribution of the GnPs filler contents in the PA‐6,6 matrix phase, suggesting the efficacy of the processing method employed. The resulting PA‐6,6/GnPs composites demonstrated good thermal stability, with increasing the decomposition activation energy by 46.16% up to 3 wt.% GnPs addition. Density and Shore‐D hardness also found to be increased. Tribological performance was evaluated via reciprocating tests at 5 Hz and 25 Hz frequency levels under loads of 10, 30, and 50 N. Optimum tribological performance was evaluated at a 10 N load for both reciprocating frequencies, with 44.48% and 19.95% reductions in CoF compared with pure PA‐6,6, respectively. Similarly, the specific wear rate ( W SR ) characteristics were found to be optimal at 3 wt.% of GnPs filler addition under 10 and 30 N normal loads for both frequencies. The results revealed that the developed PA‐6,6/GnPs composite could be suggested as a potential candidate for their potential utilization in lightweight automotive applications.