9729680 Bahadur An SGER award will support the study of the effect of nano- scale particulate fillers from a number of materials families on the tribological performance of a high temperature polymer. Friction and wear will be measured for a range of conditions and mixtures and the composition and properties of the transfer film formed on steel counterfaces will be determined. It is expected that the high reactivity of the nano-scale particles with the counterface will result in formation of especially wear resistant transfer films. The study will also provide data on the tribological properties of filled polymers for potential use in MEMS micromachines. ***
