Because of its self-lubricating qualities, porous polyimide
(PPI)
has been used as a crucial cage material for space bearings; however,
overcoming the failure followed by blackening of PPI remains a challenge.
Herein, we developed a surface smoothening approach to optimize the
tribological performance of PPI in an oil-impregnated state. Pre-polishing
using sandpaper and then with Al2O3 paste enables
the fabrication of nanoscale rough PPI surfaces with significantly
reduced friction and surface wear and complete suppression of the
blackening phenomenon. Compared with polishing using sandpaper or
Al2O3 paste, the compound polishing method created
a substantially smoother surface. It exposed more polytetrafluoroethylene
at the outermost surface, improving the liquid and solid lubrication
properties of the contact interface under a mixed lubrication state.
The further analysis indicated that decreasing the size of PPI surface
pores during pre-polishing using sandpaper was crucial in resisting
the adsorption of residual polishing particles.