Polystyrene–acrylonitrile–CNTs nanocomposites preparations and tribological behavior research

Polystyrene–acrylonitrile mixed with different carbon nanotube (CNT) fractions has been successfully prepared by means of in situ polymerization method. The tribological behaviors of the nanocomposites are investigated by friction and wear tester under dry conditions. Compared with the polystyrene–acrylonitrile, polystyrene–acrylonitrile–CNTs shows not only the lower friction coefficient but also the higher wear resistance, which reveals that CNT could reduce the friction and improve the wear resistance behaviors of the nanocomposites dramatically. According to the results of the microhardness measurements, CNT is found to be able to improve the microhardness of the nanocomposites effectively. The mechanism of the reinforced tribological properties and microhardness for the polystyrene–acrylonitrile–CNTs nanocomposites is also discussed in detail.