Synchronously improved ozone aging resistance and tribological performance of self‐lubricating fabric composites via 2‐mercaptobenzimidazole

Abstract Self‐lubricating fabric composite can be used as liner material in plain bearings of aeronautical aircraft. The concentration of ozone in the cruising altitude of aircraft is relatively high and the oxidation of ozone will reduce the tribological property and service life of the self‐lubricating fabric composites. In present work, 2‐mercaptobenzimidazole (MB) was chosen and filled into self‐lubricating fabric composites to improve their ozone aging resistance and wear resistance performance. Characterizations demonstrated that the optimum filling ratio of MB was 4 wt%. The glass transition temperature of resin and decomposition temperature of the composite filled with 4 wt% MB were 96.3 s and 475°C, which increased by 12.6% and 6.7% compared with that of resin and composites without filling MB, respectively. The tribological performance and ozone aging resistance performance of MB reinforced self‐lubricating fabric composites acquired obviously enhancement. The wear rate of MB reinforced self‐lubricating fabric composites after different ozone aging time decreased by 42.4%–61.8% compared with that of composites without filling MB owing to that the addition of MB improved the oxidation resistance and thermal stability of self‐lubricating composites.