Friction in tribological systems can lead to significant energy consumption and wear. While there are several dissipation mechanisms in the frictional boundary layer, the role of chemical processes is not fully understood. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of chemical reactions on the tribological behavior of sliding friction pairs. In order to carry out initial analyses, minimal mixtures with a few simple components and epoxy resin as a binder are developed, produced and used. A series of experiments are performed on a pin-on-disc tribometer with different minimal mixtures. Temperature and friction coefficient are measured throughout the friction process, and the rubbed surface of the samples is measured in situ. Three types of chemically inert minimal mixtures are developed in the first phase of the experiment. In the second phase of the experiment, copper powder is added to all minimal mixtures to study the influence of copper oxidation as the main chemical reaction. The tribometer measurement results show that the addition of copper has little effect on fine alumina samples and increases the friction coefficient and average wear volume of coarse alumina samples. In particular, the greater the amount of copper added to the mixtures, the greater the effect of copper and the more unstable the friction behavior of the coarse alumina samples. Following the tribometer measurements, the samples are also analyzed using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to investigate the changes in the mixtures after the addition of copper. Initial chemical analysis results show that the coarse alumina samples with a certain amount of copper in them have more plateau-like patches formed in the boundary layer. These patches are mainly caused by the oxidation of iron coming from the disk during the measurement. Our results contribute to a better methodology for the study of tribochemical processes with predefined minimum mixtures in frictional contacts and to a better understanding of the role of tribochemical processes in the boundary layer dynamics, and can aid in the development of simulation tools.
