Effects of Ti3C2Tx MXene and Graphene on the Self-lubricating Properties of PEEK Composites

However，although the existing two-dimensional (2D) reinforcements represented by graphene has shown promising anti-friction performance in PEEK composites，the deterioration of material strength and wear resistance appears as well. In this work，by taking Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets，a new two-dimensional material as reinforcement，a series of PEEK composites were prepared.

The tribological properties of MXene-reinforced PEEK composites were compared with those of graphene-reinforced PEEK under different loads，and the role of the two 2D reinforcements on the self-lubricating properties of PEEK was analyzed. The results showed that Ti3C2Tx MXene could significantly improve the microhardness and wear resistance of PEEK compared with graphene. At the same time, all the Ti3C2Tx MXene composites exhibited adhesive wear and abrasive wear behavior under all the test conditions, while the graphene composites exhibited fatigue wear under high loads.