The poly(ether ether ketone) micro/nanocomposite reinforced with N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyl triethoxy silane treated micro-and nano-sized nickel and zirconia (0.5, 1, and 3 wt%) were prepared by melt mixing in a co-rotating twin screw extruder followed by test specimen fabrication in microinjection molding. The resulting nanocomposites with 3 wt% Ni and ZrO 2 nanoparticles exhibit the maximum improvement in tensile and flexural strength as well as the modulus with respect to neat poly(ether ether ketone). The lowest specific wear rate of 17.6 Â 10 À4 mm 3 /N/m has been achieved with 3 wt% nano-Ni-filled composite in comparison to neat poly(ether ether ketone)'s value 191.5 Â 10 À4 mm 3 /N/m. The thermal stability of micro-and nano-particle reinforced poly(ether ether ketone) composites measured by thermogravimetric analysis found to be higher than the unfilled poly(ether ether ketone).

This study for the first time evaluated quantitatively the effect of carbon nanofibre (CNF) reinforcement on tribological properties of epoxy nanocomposites. Nanocomposites containing 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 wt% CNF were fabricated by casting technique after dispersing CNFs in epoxy resin by ultrasonication and mechanical stirring. Sliding and abrasive wear were investigated using a pin-on-disc apparatus and evaluated statistically for the effect of CNF reinforcement by one-way ANOVA. Sliding wear test revealed that CNF content significantly affected specific wear rate but not frictional coefficient. Reinforcement with 0.5 to 2.5 wt% CNF reduced the specific wear rate compared to the control (neat epoxy). However, specific wear rate was increased at 3.0 wt% CNF. Abrasive wear test showed that CNF reinforcement causes numerical decrease in wear rate but the effect was statistically non-significant. Surface morphology was investigated by SEM to obtain the possible wear mechanism of the nanocomposites.

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