Tribology International 153 (2021) 106629

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Tribology International
journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/triboint

Study on tribological properties of a novel composite by filling

microcapsules into UHMWPE matrix for water lubrication
Zhenxiang Yang a, b, Zhiwei Guo a, b, *, Zongrong Yang a, b, Chaobao Wang a, b, Chengqing Yuan a, b
a
Key Laboratory of Marine Power Engineering & Technology (Ministry of Transport), Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430063, China
b
Reliability Engineering Institute, National Engineering Research Center for Water Transportation Safety, Wuhan, 430063, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Water-lubricated bearings usually suffer severe abrasion under low-speed working conditions. Use of micro­
Water-lubricated bearing encapsulated lubricants to modify the materials seems to be useful for reducing friction and wear in a bearing. In
Palmityl palmitate microcapsule this reported study, palmityl palmitate microcapsules coated with a shell of urea-formaldehyde resin were
UHMWPE
prepared by in-situ polymerization and were then added to ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene
Tribological properties
(UHMWPE). Friction tests were performed using the microcapsule/UHMWPE composites by abrading them
against tin-bronze discs under normal or heavy loads at low speeds. The experimental results showed that the
addition of the microcapsules to the UHMWPE decreased its friction coefficient, reduced wear loss and optimized
the wear surface morphology of the composites, consequently improving their tribological properties.

1. Introduction
The current surge of enthusiasm in energy conservation and envi­
ronmental protection has made green ship technology an important
issue in the maritime shipping industry. Traditional oil-lubricated
bearings can leak lubricating oil into the sea, which causes serious
pollution to the marine environment. Water-lubricated bearings are an
important part of the ship’s propulsion system since they are environ­
mentally friendly and less expensive than oil-lubricated bearings.
Consequently, many research efforts have been initiated dealing with
their improvement [1–3].
Nevertheless, the viscosity of water is much lower than lubricating
oils. Under the same working conditions, the thickness of a water
lubricating film formed in the bearing is very small, and the bearing
capacity is seriously reduced compared to an oil lubricating film. This is
particularly true when the ship’s propeller shaft is running at a low
speed, because it is very difficult to form a stable water lubricating film
in the bearing, and the lubricating effect is degraded [4]. Also, tradi­
tional metal bearings are prone to corrosion in water-lubricated condi­
tions, which may reduce the service life and reliability of the bearings.
The development of polymer composite materials has stimulated new
materials research to identify systems that have excellent
self-lubricating capabilities to improve the tribological properties of
water-lubricated bearings. A variety of polymers, including rubber [5,
6], UHMWPE [7,8], high density polyethylene (HDPE) [9,10] and
thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) [11,12], have been widely applied as
water-lubricated bearing materials due to their outstanding impact
resistance, corrosion resistance and convenient preparation.
Modifying these polymers by combining them with lubricating ad­
ditives is an efficient method to further improve their tribological
properties. The commonly used solid additives include graphite [13],
molybdenum disulfide [14], carbon nanotubes [15] and other solid lu­
bricants, while the liquid additives are mainly ionic liquids [16–18].
Some problems have been observed with the direct addition of these
additives. Some solid additives are not ideal for improving the tribo­
logical properties of composite materials, while some liquid or
low-melting-point additives have poor compatibility with matrix ma­
terials and phase separation can occur [19]. It has been found that
microencapsulation of the additive with subsequent addition of the
encapsulated additive to a polymer can preclude phase separation.
Encapsulating a lubricant in a dense polymer film can promote the
compatibility of additives and matrix materials, optimize the dispersion
of the lubricant in the composites and reduce the leakage of lubricant,
which can improve the tribological performance of composites [20–23].
Li et al. [24] prepared microcapsules containing lubricating oil as the
core material with polystyrene and silicon dioxide as the hybrid shell
using emulsion polymerization and added these microcapsules to an
epoxy coating. The authors found that the prepared microcapsules

* Corresponding author. Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430063, China.

E-mail address: zwguo@whut.edu.cn (Z. Guo).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2020.106629
Received 4 July 2020; Received in revised form 24 August 2020; Accepted 2 September 2020
Available online 5 September 2020
0301-679X/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Z. Yang et al.
exhibited good thermal stability, and the microcapsules were easily
dispersed in the epoxy coating that ultimately exhibited excellent
anti-friction behavior. Yang et al. [25] synthesized MoS2 microcapsules
coated with a shell of urea-formaldehyde resin and added them to an
HDPE matrix. The results of this study demonstrated that the microen­
capsulation of MoS2 could delay the oxidation of MoS2 crystals in
water-lubrication conditions, thereby enhancing the lubrication effect of
MoS2. Khun et al. [26] prepared microcapsules filled with hexam­
ethylene diisocyanate (HDI) and mixed them with an epoxy matrix to
produce a new type of composite. These authors found that the HDI
liquid released from the broken microcapsules provided a lubricating
effect during the wear test. Simultaneously, the released HDI liquid
reacted with water to form a new polyurea layer on the wear track,
which provided a self-healing effect. Li et al. [27] prepared tung oil
microcapsules coated with polysulfone through solvent evaporation and
mixed the microcapsules with an epoxy resin matrix to produce multi­
functional coatings. The results showed that compared to pure epoxy
resins, the friction coefficient and wear rate of these self-lubricating
coatings were significantly reduced, and the mechanism of friction
reduction was mainly due to the transfer film formed by the released
tung oil. In addition, the microcapsules produced excellent corrosion
resistance in the scratch-resistant coating, which was attributed to the
formation of cross-linked polymer films after the release of tung oil from
damaged microcapsules. The results of these studies confirm that
microencapsulation of certain lubricants can protect the lubricants and
improve their dispersion in polymer matrices. Therefore, this approach
appears to be an effective way to further optimize the tribological per­
formance of composites.
This currently reported study was initiated to explore the addition of
microcapsules to improve the tribological properties of water-lubricated
bearings. The microcapsules were composed of palmityl palmitate as the
core material with in-situ polymerized urea-formaldehyde resin (UF) as
the wall material. Palmityl palmitate, also known as hexadecyl hex­
adecanoate, is the main component of spermaceti wax, which is a solid
wax obtained by cooling and pressing the greasy substances extracted
from the sperm whales’ heads [28]. Many researchers [29–33] have
demonstrated that esters generally have good lubrication performance,
which has promoted their wide use in various fields. Therefore, it can be
inferred that palmityl palmitate may have great potential for use in
tribology. Palmityl palmitate has a low melting point (55–56 ◦ C), which
makes it very suitable for microencapsulation. UF is a rigid and slowly
degradable polymer that can be prepared by in-situ polymerization in
aqueous solutions, making it an appropriate microcapsule wall material
[34]. In this reported study, the described microcapsules and UHMWPE
were mixed together to produce a new type of composite that could be
used in water-lubricated bearings. The tribological properties of these
composites were investigated under different working conditions of
normal or heavy load at low speeds. The results of this research provide
a new approach for the design and development of water-lubricated
bearing materials containing microcapsules.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Materials
The styrene maleic anhydride copolymer (SMA) used in this work
had a molecular weight of 100,000 and was purchased from Shenzhen
PST New Material Technology Co. Ltd (Shenzhen, China). Urea,
ammonium chloride (NH4Cl), resorcinol and palmityl palmitate were
obtained from Shanghai McLean Biochemical Technology Co. Ltd
(Shanghai, China). A 37 wt% formaldehyde solution, n-octanol and
absolute ethanol were obtained from Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co.
Ltd (Shanghai, China). A NaOH aqueous solution with a concentration of
1 mol/L was prepared from distilled water and sodium hydroxide. The
water used for the water-lubricated tests was Watson’s professional
distilled water. UHMWPE, with an average molecular weight of 1.7
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million, was obtained from Dushanzi Petrochemical Company of CNPC
(Xinjiang, China).
2.2. Synthesis of microcapsules
The microcapsules with palmityl palmitate as core material and UF
as wall material were synthesized by in-situ polymerization, which is
illustrated in Fig. 1(a). A proper amount of distilled water and SMA were
mixed in a 1 L beaker, and an electromagnetic stirrer was used to mix
them for 10 min at a speed of 1000 r/min to prepare 250 g of 2.5 wt%
SMA in aqueous solution. During this process, 5 g of urea, 0.5 g of NH4Cl
and 0.5 g of resorcinol were added successively and stirred where NH4Cl
served as a surfactant and resorcinol as a crosslinker. Subsequently, a
few drops of 1 mol/l NaOH solution were gradually added to adjust the
pH of the mixture to about 3.5, and 2 drops of n-octanol were added to
eliminate the bubbles. Then, the rotating speed of the electromagnetic
stirrer was reduced to 400 r/min, and the temperature was raised to
75 ◦ C. Next, 20 g of palmityl palmitate, which had been melted by water
bath, was mixed with the liquid drop by drop in the beaker and dispersed
for 30 min thereafter. After forming a dispersion, 13 g of formaldehyde
solution was also added drop by drop, and the mixture was stirred for 4
h at a constant temperature of 75 ◦ C. Ultimately, the mixture was
centrifuged and the precipitate was washed with absolute ethanol and
then dried in a constant temperature oven at 40 ◦ C for 10 h to produce
the microcapsules.
Fig. 1(b) depicts the synthesis of the microcapsules. The droplet
surface of dispersed lubricant was surrounded by emulsifier molecules.
The lipophilic group of the emulsifier molecule was connected to the
lubricant droplet, while the hydrophilic group on the other side was
attached to the prepolymer of urea-formaldehyde (pre-UF). The pre-UF
was gradually polymerized to form a UF shell to cover the palmityl
palmitate droplet. This process produced the microcapsules containing a
core of palmityl palmitate coated with a shell of UF.
2.3. Preparation of composite materials
To investigate the effect of the palmityl palmitate microcapsules on
the tribological properties of water-lubricated bearing materials, com­
posite samples modified with different contents of microcapsules were
prepared for testing. The microcapsules and UHMWPE were uniformly
blended by melting the mixture in a micro mixer (Wuhan Qien Science &
Technology Development Co. Ltd, China) where the mass fractions of
the microcapsules was set to 0%, 5%, 10% and 15%. The temperature in
the mixer was set to 190 ◦ C, the rotating speed was 30 r/min, with each
operation that lasted for 20 min. Following mixing, and cooling, the
sample was placed in a crusher (Wuhan Qien Science & Technology
Development Co. Ltd, China) to transform the mixed composites into
particles and then an injection molding machine (Wuhan Qien Science &
Technology Development Co. Ltd, China) was employed at a working
temperature of 190 ◦ C to process the composite particles into test sam­
ples. Table 1 lists the microcapsule concentration of the various com­
posites, where the composite samples with microcapsule mass fractions
of 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% are denoted as UHMWPE, UHMWPE-5,
UHMWPE-10 and UHMWPE-15, respectively.
2.4. Characterization equipment
A scanning electron microscopy (VEGA 3, Tescan Co. Ltd, Czech)
equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer X-ray analyzer (EDS
Inca X-Max, Oxford Instruments Co. Ltd., U.K) was used to evaluate the
microcapsules and to observe the wear surface morphology of composite
samples. The chemical structure of UF, palmityl palmitate and the mi­
crocapsules was determined using a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR)
spectrophotometer (Nicolet 6700, Thermo Electron Scientific In­
struments Co. Ltd, US). The thermal properties of the UF, palmityl
palmitate and microcapsules were determined using a simultaneous
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Fig. 1. Preparation of microcapsules: (a) Preparation process; (b) Synthesis principle.

Table 1
Components of various test composites.
Composites Mass fraction

UHMWPE Microcapsules
UHMWPE 100% 0
UHMWPE-5 95% 5%
UHMWPE-10 90% 10%
UHMEPW-15 85% 15%

thermal analysis (STA449F3, NETZSCH Co. Ltd, Germen), where the

operating temperature ranged from 40 to 1000 ◦ C with a heating rate of
5 ◦ C/min in air. An electronic universal testing machine (Instron 5967,
Co. Ltd, US) and the Shore hardness tester (HLX-AC, Adelberg Handpi
Instrument Co. Ltd, China) were employed to measure the ultimate
tensile strength and the Shore hardness of the composites to estimate
their mechanical properties. A high-precision electronic balance
(MS205DU, Shanghai Jiehui Electronic Technology Co. Ltd, China) was
used to weigh the composite samples before and after the friction tests to
determine their mass wear loss. The wear surface morphology, the root
mean square (Sq) and the surface kurtosis (Sku) of the worn surface of
QSn7-0.2 discs were measured using a laser interference surface pro­
filometer (LI-3, Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
China).
Fig. 2. Friction pair: (a) QSn7-0.2 disc; (b) Size of QSn7-0.2 disc (mm); (c)
2.5. Tribological tests Composite sample; (d)Size of composite sample (mm).

To stimulate the friction and wear between water-lubricated bear­ equivalent to 12 mm due to the middle radius of the tin-bronze disc or
ings and stern bearing bushings that are usually made of copper and its composite sample.
alloys, the tin-bronze discs (QSn7-0.2), whose elemental composition is The tribological tests of the composite samples were conducted with
displayed in Table 2, were chosen to rub with the microcapsule/ the QSn7-0.2 discs using a friction and wear tester (CBZ-1 tribo-tester,
UHMWPE composite samples. As shown in Fig. 2 in the friction pair, the Haima Ltd., China). As shown in Fig. 3, the composite ring sample
tin-bronze disc had an inner diameter of 16 mm, an outer diameter of 32 was fixed in a water tank and subjected to a load applied from a shaft
mm and a height of 5 mm. The composite was molded into a ring shape positioned beneath it. The QSn7-0.2 disc was placed on top of the
with an inner diameter of 18 mm, an outer diameter of 30 mm and a rotating shaft to rub against the composite sample. The contact surface
height of 10 mm. The contact area of the friction pair was calculated to of the friction pair was immersed in distilled water to simulate water-
be 452.39 mm2, and the rotation radius of the friction pair was lubrication conditions. During the test, data for the real-time pressure,
speed, torque and other parameters were collected from a sensor, and
Table 2 the friction coefficient was calculated using the following equation with
Mass fraction of main elements of QSn7-0.2 an appropriate computer software system:
Cu Zn Sn Ni Al Pb Impurity T
μ= (1)
90%~92% 0.3% 6%~8% 0.2% 0.01% 0.02% 0.15% r×F

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Fig. 3. Photograph and schematic diagram of the CBZ-1 tribo-tester.

where μ is the friction coefficient, T (N⋅m) means the friction torque, r
(m) indicates the rotation radius, and F (N) represents the applied load.
The working conditions of the tribological test were on based on the
U.S. Navy military standard MIL-DTL-17901C [35]. According to the
standard, the emery papers of 600 and 1000 grade were used to polish
the composite samples and tin-bronze discs before the friction test,
which maintained the surface roughness (Ra) of composite samples and
tin-bronze discs at around 0.8 μm. After the surface treatment, the
composite samples and tin-bronze discs were washed with absolute
ethanol, then dried in a constant temperature oven at 40 ◦ C for 12 h to
eliminate the potentially adverse influence of the surface treatment
process on the friction test. Since the nominal pressure of a
water-lubricated stern bearing is less than 0.55 MPa [36], constant loads
of 0.5 MPa (225 N) and 0.9 MPa (405 N) were applied to friction pairs to
simulate the normal and heavy loads. The rotating speeds of the engine
were selected as 50, 150 and 250 r/min to simulate the initial stage of
ship’s speed, where when the rotation speed of the shaft was low, a poor
water-lubrication effect was produced. Each friction pair was tested for
2 h, with pre-grinding for 10 min before the formal test was initiated to
eliminate the interference of excessive wear caused during the initial
stage of the test. All friction tests were conducted twice under the same
working condition to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the results.
Distilled water was chosen as the water-lubricating medium to eliminate
the effect of impurities on the experiments.

Fig. 4. SEM images and EDS of microcapsules: (a) Microcapsule magnification at 500 × ; (b) Microcapsule magnification at 1000 × ; (c) Microcapsule magnification
at 1420 × ; (d) A ruptured microcapsule; (e) An intact microcapsule; (f) EDS of sampling port 1; (g) EDS of sampling port 2.

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3. Result and discussion Table 3

Characteristic FTIR bands of the microcapsules.
3.1. Characterization of microcapsules and composites Band assignment Wave/cm− 1
Region

N–H stretching vibration 3360 UF

Fig. 4(a), (b) and (c) show the SEM images of the prepared micro­ C=O stretching vibration 1641 UF
capsules at different magnifications. As can be seen, most of the N–H bending vibration 1554 UF
microcapsule particles exhibited a regularly spherical shape. As esti­ C–H stretching vibration 2956 Palmityl palmitate
mated from these SEM images, the particle diameter of microcapsule C–H stretching vibration 2918 Palmityl palmitate
C–H stretching vibration 2849 Palmityl palmitate
appeared to be about 20 μm. Fig. 4(d) and (e) show the SEM images of a C=O stretching vibration 1734 Palmityl palmitate
ruptured microcapsule and an intact one, respectively. EDS analysis was
performed on the element distribution of the core and shell of the mi­
crocapsules, and the results are shown in Fig. 4(f) and (g). According to
these results, the core of the microcapsule mainly contains C and O,
while the shell of the microcapsule is mainly distributed with C, O and N.
Since N only exists in UF, it can be inferred that the core material is
palmityl palmitate and the wall material is UF, which proves that the
prepared microcapsules have a core-shell structure.
The distribution of elements or chemical bonds of the contents of the
microcapsules was also used as a means of evaluating the efficiency of
the microcapsule encapsulation process. FTIR analysis of the micro­
capsule contents is shown in Fig. 5 and Table 3. As can be seen in Fig. 5
(a), the characteristic peaks of UF were present at 3366, 1641 and 1554
cm− 1, which were typical absorbance bands for the N–H stretching vi­
bration, C– – O stretching vibration and N–H bending vibration respec­
tively. Fig. 5(b) shows the characteristic peaks for palmityl palmitate,
which were present at 2956, 2918 and 2849 cm− 1 and were typical for
the C–H stretching vibration, as well as 1734 cm− 1 which was typical for Fig. 6. Thermal gravimetric analysis of UF, palmityl palmitate and
also the C– – O stretching vibration. As shown in Fig. 5(c), all these microcapsules.
characteristic peaks were present in the spectra for the microcapsules,
which demonstrated that the palmityl palmitate core material had been it began to decompose rapidly at about 220 ◦ C. Therefore, the micro
successfully encapsulated by the by UF shell microcapsules. Fig. 5(d) mixer and injection machine working at 190 ◦ C would not damage the
shows the chemical formulae of palmitate and UF to help illustrate the microcapsules. This result suggested that the applicable temperature of
molecular structure and elemental composition of the microcapsules. microcapsules is far higher than the ultimate working temperature of
Fig. 6 shows the thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) of UF, palmityl water-lubricated bearings. The TGA analysis results suggested that use
palmitate and the microcapsules. TGA of the microcapsules can help to of the microcapsules in the field of water-lubricated bearings is quite
determine the thermal decomposition performance of the microcap­ feasible.
sules, which can establish their optimum working temperature range. As In order to evaluate the mechanical properties of the composite
the data show, the mass loss from the palmityl palmitate increased containing microcapsules, the ring samples and the tensile samples were
slightly from 200 ◦ C, which may have been due to its oxidation. At selected for the tests of Shore hardness and ultimate tensile strength
220 ◦ C, the palmityl palmitate began to decompose and was completely respectively. The size of the tensile sample is shown in Fig. 7(a), which is
decomposed to carbon at 400 ◦ C, and the carbon was completely determined according to the national standard GB/T 16421-1996 [37].
oxidized to CO2 at 500 ◦ C. The UF had a small mass loss below 200 ◦ C, Five corresponding samples were tested for the same kind of composites,
which was attributed to the evaporation of absorbed water, and then the and the average value was calculated as the result. The results shown in
UF gradually decomposed as the temperature increased. The TGA curve Fig. 7(b) and (c) suggested that the microcapsules had a negative effect
of the microcapsules was similar to that of the palmityl palmitate, where on the mechanical properties of the composites. As the content of

Fig. 5. FTIR spectra of (a) UF, (b) palmityl palmitate and (c) microcapsules, and (d) chemical formula of UF and palmityl palmitate.

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Z. Yang et al.
Fig. 7. Mechanical properties of composite materials: (a) Size of tensile samples (mm); (b) Ultimate tensile strength; (c) Shore hardness.
microcapsules was increased in the composite, the ultimate tensile
strength and Shore hardness of the composites exhibited a decrease. It
can be speculated that the presence of microcapsules might change the
internal mechanical structure of the composite material and reduce the
bearing capacity of external loads, which caused a decrease in me­
chanical properties. These findings are similar to those reported by
Zhang [38].
3.2. Analysis of friction coefficient
Figs. 8 and 9 show the variation of the friction coefficient and the
corresponding average friction coefficient of composite samples con­
taining various contents of microcapsules at different rotating speeds at
0.5 MPa and 0.9 MPa. It can be summarized from these results that the
average friction coefficient of the composite samples decreased with the
increase in microcapsule content under all the working conditions in the
test. This indicated that the microcapsules appeared to play a role in
reducing the friction coefficient under both normal and heavy loads.
This regularity could be attributed to the lubrication promoted by the
palmityl palmitate, which was released from the worn microcapsules
during the test and distributed on the contact surfaces of the friction
pairs. This would effectively prevent direct contact between the
Fig. 8. Friction coefficient variation of different composites at 0.5 MPa and (a) 50 r/min, (b) 150 r/min and (c) 250 r/min and (d) Their average friction coefficient.
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composite samples and the tin-bronze discs. The friction coefficient of
pure UHMWPE was quite high compared to the microcapsule/UHMWPE
composites, because it was difficult to form a stable and effective water
lubricating film at a low speed. The addition of microcapsules to
UHMWPE matrix could enhance the self-lubricating property of the
composites, which could compensate for the defects in the water lubri­
cating film formed at low speeds and consequently reduce the friction
coefficient of the composites.
Observing the variations in the friction coefficients for different
composite samples over the time of the test, it can be seen that the
friction coefficients gradually increased, which occurred because of the
increased roughness of the samples’ surfaces resulting from increased
abrasion as the tests proceeded. To that end, Figs. 8 and 9 also suggest
that with a low level of microcapsule content, such as in samples
UHMWPE and UHMWPE-5, the variation in the friction coefficient of the
composite samples fluctuated wildly. However, with a high microcap­
sule content, such as in samples UHMWPE-10 and UHMWPE-15, the
variation in the friction coefficient was relatively stable. These results
clearly showed that a high microcapsule content in a composite could
inhibit the increase in the composite’s friction coefficient. In conclusion,
addition of microcapsules can not only reduce the average friction co­
efficient of the composites, but also dampen the increase in the friction
Z. Yang et al.
Fig. 9. Friction coefficient variation of different composites at 0.9 MPa and (a) 50 r/min, (b) 150 r/min and (c) 250 r/min and (d) Their average friction coefficient.
coefficient of the composites, which helps to maintain a relatively con­
stant value under working loads. The UHMWPE-15 composite with a
15% microcapsule content produced the optimum self-lubricating per­
formance, with the lowest average friction coefficient and a relatively
stable friction coefficient.
3.3. Analysis of wear loss
In the analysis of wear loss, the cleaned and dried composite samples
were weighed before and after the friction test. The mass wear loss of the
samples with different amounts of microcapsules under different
working conditions are shown in Fig. 10. Using the variation in mass
wear loss at 0.9 MPa and 250 r/min as an example, the wear loss from
the pure UHMWPE sample was quite large compared to the microcap­
sule/UHMWPE composites. This was probably due to a poor water-
lubrication effect, resulting in severe wear and a large mass loss of
material. With the addition of microcapsules, the palmityl palmitate was
released from microcapsules and was distributed on the surface of fric­
tion pairs during the friction test. This played a decisive role in reducing
friction and wear, thereby providing the composites with excellent self-
lubricating properties. As a result, the mass wear loss from the composite
samples decreased with the increase in the microcapsule content. Under
the other working conditions, the wear loss from the composite samples
showed similar variations to that at 0.9 MPa and 250 r/min. Therefore, it
can be concluded from these results that the addition of microcapsules
improved the wear resistance of the composite, and the wear resistance
was enhanced with the increase of the microcapsule content. In addi­
tion, the palmityl palmitate released from the microcapsules appeared to
fill the gaps between the wear furrows or scars that resulted from fric­
tion. This played a role in the healing of the surface and prevented
further aggravation of wear. The UHMWPE-15 composite containing
Fig. 10. Mass wear loss of composite samples at a load of (a) 0.5 MPa and (b) 0.9 MPa.
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15% microcapsules experienced slight wear, so it presented the best
wear resistance performance among the various composites.
3.4. Analysis of wear morphology
Following the friction tests, the wear surface morphology of com­
posite samples was examined using an SEM to estimate the wear
mechanisms. Fig. 11 shows the SEM images of wear surface morphology
of various composite samples tested at a rotating speed of 250 r/min and
a load of 0.5 MPa or 0.9 MPa, where Fig. 11(a), (b), (c) and (d) show the
wear surface morphology of samples UHMWPE, UHMWPE-5, UHMWPE-
10 and UHMWPE-15 at 0.5 MPa. As shown in Fig. 11(a), the wear sur­
face of pure UHMWPE exhibited almost no wear furrows but produced
deformation and mass loss. Since the hardness of the UHMWPE material
is lower than the QSn7-0.2 discs, micro deformation between friction
pairs was easily generated because of the adhesion between them. As
shown, the surface of the composite was gradually worn away and wear
debris continuously peeled away under the constant action of cyclic
contact load. Therefore, the wear mode of the pure UHMWPE was pri­
marily adhesive wear and the wear loss from this sample was the
greatest. When the microcapsule content was 5%, the self-lubricating
effect was promoted so the wear loss from the composite was sharply
reduced. In the wear process of this material, a small amount of debris
was sandwiched between the friction pairs, which led to the generation
of many wear furrows and scars. As shown in Fig. 11(b), there were
many groove-like wear furrows on the worn surface of UHMWPE-5, and
the wear mode was essentially abrasive wear. As the content of micro­
capsules was increased to 10%, the additional microcapsules released
more palmityl palmitate to fill the wear furrows, which improved the
surface healing. Consequently, the amount of wear grooves on the worn
surface of UHMWPE-10 in Fig. 11(c) was much less than UHMWPE-5, so
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Fig. 11. SEM images of wear surface morphology of composite samples at 250 r/min, (a) 0.5 MPa, UHMWPE; (b) 0.5 MPa, UHMWPE-5; (c) 0.5 MPa, UHMWPE-10;
(d) 0.5 MPa, UHMWPE-15; (e) 0.9 MPa, UHMWPE; (f) 0.9 MPa, UHMWPE-5; (g) 0.9 MPa, UHMWPE-10; (h) 0.9 MPa, UHMWPE-15.

the wear mechanism of this sample was both abrasive and adhesive
wear. In the case of the composite with 15% microcapsules, the self-
lubricating and self-healing properties of microcapsules were
increased. As shown in Fig. 11(d), the wear morphology of this com­
posite was quite flat and smooth, which suggested that UHMWPE-15
suffered little abrasive wear and what wear occurred was at a very
low level. Therefore, UHMWPE-15 exhibited the minimum mass wear
loss and the best wear surface morphology.
With the 0.9 MPa working load, it can be seen in Fig. 11 (e), (f), (g),
(h) that the wear surface morphology of the composite samples was
similar to that at the 0.5 MPa test load. To summarize, it can be seen that
the lubricating function of palmityl palmitate released from microcap­
sules greatly reduced the wear of the composite samples by converting
the wear mode from the adhesive wear of the pure UHMWPE to the
abrasive wear of composites containing microcapsules. In addition,
impact of this abrasive wear was attenuated by the self-healing effects
that restrained the exacerbation of the wear. The wear surface
morphology of the UHMWPE-15 composite containing 15% microcap­
sules was the flattest and smoothest, which verified that an increase in
the microcapsule content greatly improved the wear surface
morphology of the composites.
The wear surface morphology, Sq and Sku of the worn surface of the
QSn7-0.2 discs are shown in Fig. 12, where the tin-bronze discs in
contact with UHMWPE, UHMWPE-5, UHMWPE-10 and UHMWPE-15
were denoted as Disc-0, Disc-5, Disc-10, and Disc-15, respectively. The
symbol Sq represents the degree of deviation of each point from the
reference plane in the measured area. When the surface of the material is
relatively flat, Sq is small, while with peaks and gullies on the surface,
the Sq becomes large. The symbol Sku is indicative of relative roughness
to of wear surface. Sku <3 means the height distribution is higher than

Fig. 12. Characterization of the worn surface of QSn7-0.2 discs at 250 r/min and 0.9 MPa: (a) Sq and Sku; (b) Wear surface morphology.

8
Z. Yang et al.
the average plane, Sku = 3 indicates the height distribution is normal and
the sharp and blunt parts coexist, and Sku>3 signify highly distributed
needle-like sharpness. Sq and Sku are calculated as follows [39]:
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
√
√ 1 ∑ M− 1 ∑ N− 1
Sq = √ (Z(xk , yl ) − u)2 (2)
MN 0 0
1 ∑ M− 1 ∑
N− 1
Sku = (Z(xk , yl ) − u)4 (3)
MNSq4 0 0
M− 1 ∑
1 ∑ N− 1
u= (Z(xk , yl )) (4)
MN 0 0
where u is the average height of the sampling area and Z (xk , yl ) repre­
sents the height of the sampling point (xk , yl ).
As shown in Fig. 12(a), the Sq of the worn surface of the tin-bronze
discs gradually decreased with the increase of microcapsule content in
the composites, indicating that the presence of microcapsules amelio­
rated the wear state of the friction pairs and ensured that the worn
surface of the tin-bronze plate was smoother. On the other hand, the Sku
of Disc-5, Disc-10 and Disc-15 were also smaller than Disc-0, which
suggested that the microcapsules in the composite samples reduced the
degree of sharpness of the worn surface of tin-bronze discs. Moreover, it
was observed from the wear surface morphology of QSn7-0.2 discs listed
in Fig. 12(b) that there were many grooves on the worn surface of Disc-
0 while the number of grooves in Disc-5, Disc-10 and Disc-15 decreased
in turn, and the worn surface of Disc-5, Disc-10 and Disc-15 became
smoother and flatter than Disc-0. These results show that the addition of
microcapsules to UHMWPE matrix reduced the degree of sharpness of
the worn surface of the tin-bronze discs, thereby optimizing the wear
morphology of the QSn7-0.2 discs.
In conclusion, the lubrication effect of microcapsules improved the
wear morphology of both composite samples and tin-bronze discs. The
palmityl palmitate released after the rupture of the microcapsules could
spread on the contact surface of the friction pairs, thereby reducing the
direct contact between composites and tin-bronze discs. In addition, the
palmityl palmitate filled the wear furrows on the friction pairs, helping
to avoid further aggravation caused by the wear.
3.5. Lubrication mechanism of microcapsules
After the completion of the friction tests, the morphology of the
microcapsules distributed on the worn surface of composite samples was
examined using an SEM to determine the lubrication mechanism of the
microcapsules. As shown in Fig. 13(a), spherical microcapsules were
embedded in the composite on the wear surface and the broken micro­
capsules and lubricant particles released after wear were also observed.
The lubrication mechanism of the microcapsules can be summarized as
Fig. 13. Lubrication mechanism of microcapsules: (a) SEM images of microcapsules on the worn surface of composite samples; (b) Explanation of lubrication
mechanism of microcapsules.
9
Tribology International 153 (2021) 106629
shown in Fig. 13(b). When a composite sample containing microcapsules
was subjected to load and friction, the UF wall material of microcapsules
abraded on the contact surface. This released the palmityl palmitate
from the microcapsules which was dispersed on the surfaces of the
friction pair acting as a lubricant. Simultaneously, palmityl palmitate
also filled the wear furrows that had been generated by abrasive wear,
which healed the surface and prevented further aggravation of the wear.
In conclusion, the microcapsules helped the composites to obtain self-
lubrication and self-healing functions, which optimized the friction
and wear properties of composites.
4. Conclusions
In this study, a new type of microcapsule, synthesized by in-situ
polymerization, employed palmityl palmitate as core material and
urea-formaldehyde resin as the wall material. Water-lubricated bearing
composites were prepared by filling microcapsules into UHMWPE ma­
trix, and the tribological properties of composites were systematically
studied under different working conditions. The experimental results
produced for the following conclusions:
(1) The friction coefficient of the composites decreased with the in­
crease in the content of microcapsules, because there was an in­
crease in the amount of released palmityl palmitate that was
distributed to the contact surface of friction pairs. This effectively
prevented the direct contact between composite and tin-bronze
disc. In addition, during the friction test, the friction coefficient
of the UHMWPE increased due to the roughness of the worn
surface, but the lubrication effect of microcapsules in the
UHMWPE composite ameliorated this process.
(2) The wear analysis of the composites shows that, when compared
to pure UHMWPE, the wear loss from the composites containing
microcapsules was less and the worn surface was smoother. These
results indicated that addition of microcapsules to the polymer
improved its wear resistance and amended the wear morphology
of the composites. The lubrication function of microcapsules
played a decisive role in improving the wear properties of the
composites. Moreover, the palmityl palmitate released by mi­
crocapsules spread into the groove-like furrows and scars pro­
duced by the wear during the friction process, which prevented
further deterioration of wear surface.
(3) In this reported study, the composites containing microcapsules
exhibited admirable friction and wear properties under both
normal and heavy loads, which proved that addition of the said
microcapsules may offer widespread applicability. It can be
concluded that the described microcapsules can be widely used in
various conditions to modify the tribological properties of water-
lubricated bearings.
Z. Yang et al.
In general, the addition of microcapsules had a positive effect on the
tribological properties of UHMWPE. Microcapsule/UHMWPE compos­
ites possessed a low friction coefficient, excellent wear resistance and
splendid wear surface morphology as well as good mechanical proper­
ties, which may make them widely applicable the field of water-
lubricated bearings. Future study will include the effect of self-
lubricating microcapsules and reinforcing materials on water-
lubricated bearing materials. The outcome of this proposed work will
be reported in due course.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Zhenxiang Yang: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software,
Writing - original draft. Zhiwei Guo: Conceptualization, Supervision,
Writing - review & editing. Zongrong Yang: Conceptualization, Project
administration. Chaobao Wang: Conceptualization. Chengqing Yuan:
Supervision, Writing - review & editing.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (Grant No.51509195).
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