Main Directions for Research on the Development of Tribotechnical Composites Used in the Arctic Regions (Experience of North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk)

Materials science studies the relationship between the structure and properties of materials and their changes under external impacts, and it belongs to the priority domains of science and technology. The creation of new materials, improvement of existing materials, and development of efficient technologies for their processing are the main goals of materials science. Today a substantial number of new metal alloys with special properties, different composites, ceramics, polymers, nanostructured functional powder and synthetic superhard materials, multifunctional coatings, etc., have been designed for various economic activities. But the creation of materials and technologies remains an urgent need because of the progressive development of manufacturing which requires adaptive properties of materials and technologies for their processing. This review analyzes the directions of research at North-Eastern Federal University in the field of tribotechnical materials for use in the Arctic regions. The main areas of research are identified, namely, development of new technologies of production of polymer composite materials (PCM) and improving their performance properties. The prospects of physical processing and chemical modification of the polymer matrix surface are shown. Physicomechanical and tribotechnical properties of antifrictional PCM are discussed. The results of the main theoretical generalizations in the field of analysis of PСM supramolecular structures are presented: (1) effects of critical filler concentrations on the structure and properties of PCM; (2) hypothesis of the nature of intermolecular interaction between the filler and the polymer. The modern trends of scientific investigation are shown, one of which is tribooxidative processes in PCM. The specific development of scientific knowledge and the use of polymers for the northern regions are revealed.