Infotext Journal of Nanoscience

and Nanotechnology [IJNN]

Volume 2020 Issue 01
Research Article

Friction and Wear of Graphene Filled Modified PTFE

Wang Kejian1*, Wang Zhikai2, Xie Chaojie1
1
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
2
RDFZ Xishan School, Beijing, 100193, China

Received: July 02, 2020; Accepted: July 09, 2020; Published: July 18, 2020

R-Infotext Citation: Wang K, Wang Z., Xie C. (2020) Friction and Wear of Graphene Filled Modified PTFE. Infotxt J Nanoscience &
Nanotechol 01(01): 11–16.

Abstract
Composite specimens of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) modified with different contents of graphene were prepared by molding-
sintering process. Their friction and wear properties and thermal conductivity were tested. The added graphene can greatly increase the
wear resistance and thermal conductivity of PTFE. Good bonding of graphene with the PTFE matrix and self-lubricating performance
of graphene improve the wear resistance of composite. When the mass fraction of graphene is 3%, the wear rate is 20×10-6mm3/(N·m),
which is nearly 50 times higher than that of PTFE. The friction coefficient drops slightly to 0.19. The thermal conductivity of the
composites is 1W/(m·K)-1, which is more than 4 times higher than PTFE, which can effectively transfer heat reducing the contact
temperature rise. Infrared thermography was successfully used to monitor the temperature and wear state of specimen. The temperature
evolution implied an abrasive to adhesive wear transition during friction at the applied conditions.

Keywords: Polytetrafluoroethylene; Grapheme; Wear; Friction; Thermal Conductivity; Thermography.

Introduction
The contact surface of micro/nano electromechanical
system is very small while its specific surface area is
large [1]. The interface friction and wear has become a
major problem restricting its development. Reducing
the interfacial friction and wear and energy dissipation
is the current research focus. Polytetrafluoroethylene
(PTFE) is widely used to manufacture sensors and other
sealing and external contact parts because of its excellent
self lubrication, corrosion resistance, low temperature
resistance and high temperature resistance. In fact,
in the harsh environment such as at high speed under
heavy load, the serious deformation caused by excessive
wear or insufficient heat conduction can easily lead
to contact failure. It has been shown that such micro
particles as graphite and molybdenum disulfide can
promote the interface slip and even form a lubricating
film on the hard surface under shear, which can effectively
reduce the matrix peeling off and damage protecting the
surface. Among these particles, graphene is a kind of
two-dimensional carbon nanomaterials with hexagonal
honeycomb lattice. Its unique lamellar structure gives it
unique properties. For example, the thermal conductivity
of single-layer graphene without defects is as high as 5300
w/MK, which is the highest known strength material.
The shear resistance between layers is low being easy in
sliding to form folds. Such configuration adjustment
adapt to the changes of external contact. It can be used
as a solid nano-lubricant even realizing super lubrication
with friction coefficient close to zero. Therefore, grapheme
has been filled in PTFE to improve wear resistance [2],
their composite can be coated on metal [3] or mixed into
coating [4] to lubricate the surface [5]. However, the
relevant theorem is still under study [6].
In this paper, PTFE composite samples with different
contents of graphene (GN) were prepared by cold-
pressing and subsequent sintering. Their tribological

July 18, 2020 Infotxt J Nanoscience & Nanotechol, Volume 01(01): 11–16, 2020

properties were tested which are corresponding to the
friction-heating process.
Experimental
Materials
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) suspension resin of
POLYFLON M-18F in particle size of 25 μ m with
apparent density of ca. 2.19g/cm3 was from Japan Daikin
Industrial Co., Ltd. Graphene of XF001H with sheet
diameter 0.5–5 μ m and thickness 0.8–1.2nm was from
Nanjing Xianfeng nano-material technology Co., Ltd.
Sample Preparation
PTFE suspension resin powder was put in air environment
of 5 °C for 6 h. Then the weighed resin powder and
filler according to the proportion in Table 1 were to be
mixed in the high-speed mixer for 4 min. The second
mixing was conducted after a stand for 5 min until the
filler and resin are evenly distributed. The mixture was
placed in air of 25 °C for 24 h before being laid in the
mold. The subsequent compression was under way at 50
MPa for 30 min in a hydraulic molding machine. The
resulted preforms were de-molded and ejected to room
temperature for 24 h, which were hereafter sintered in
a high-temperature atmosphere furnace. The specific
sintering procedure of temperature versus time is shown
in Figure 1. After sintering, the pressed blanks were cut to
certain dimensions in CNC machine for different tests.
Table 1: The formula of the samples.
Sample No. PTFE GN
wt % wt %
1 100 0
2 99.5 0.5
3 99 1
4 97 3
5 95 5 The thermal conductivity is greatly improved when filling
Tests
The specimens were tested for thermal conductivity (λ)
in tester TC3000 from Xi’an Xiaxi Electronic Technology
Co., Ltd.
July 18, 2020 Infotxt J Nanoscience & Nanotechol, Volume 01(01): 12–16, 2020
Graphene Filled Modified PTFE
Figure 1: Temperature setting in sintering.
Friction and wear test was performed at 200RPM
under 200N in a dry sliding condition using a block-on-
ring tester, MRH-1 by Jinan Yihua tribometer technology
Co, Ltd. The counterpart in friction of the sample 30
mm × 7 mm × 6 mm is one cylindrical rotator made of
steel 45 with the outside diameter of 40mm with surface
roughness in the range of 0.25 - 0.35 μm according to
ASTM D2714-94. The weight of the sample was weighed
before and after wear test using an electronic analytical
balance. The variation of weight represents the bulk wear
consumption of specimen. The specific wear rate (ω)
was thereafter calculated by ω = V/PL. Here, V is the
consumed material volume in wear in mm3. P is the test
load in N. The friction distance in m, L is the product
of rotation speeds with the outer circumstance of the
friction ring.
The ring rotates wearing the top horizontal flat
specimen loaded by a certain weight. The specimen
surface temperature was monitored using one infrared
thermometer. The recorded videos and photos were
input into Smart View software to track the temperature
distribution.
Results and Discussion
more graphene in PTFE as shown in Figure 2a.
In friction-wear test, the static specimen block was
pressed to the running metal ring as shown in Figure 2b.
The torque of ring in rotation and the applied load onto
the specimen were recorded to calculate the the coefficient
 Graphene Filled Modified PTFE

of friction. It changes with time as shown in Figure 3a. The higher the content of GN is, the greater and the ealier
It first rises to one maximum followed by decrease to the peak friction force is when more GN particles are
approximately undulating value. The protruding points distributed at the sample surface.
on samples rubbing the metal ring result in the first rise.

Figure 2: Thermal conductivity (a) and Sketch of friction-wear test setup (b) of PTFE and composites with different
percentage of grapheme.

Figure 3: Coefficient of friction (a) and Wear rate (b) for PTFE and composites with different percentage of grapheme.

However, these points are easy to be rubbed off
or compressed into the sample, which explains the
subsequent drop and final undulating balance. Now the
filler of Graphene lubricates the contact interface. The
higher coefficient of friction was observed in the final
stage for PTFE and the composites with low percentage
(0.5~1 wt%) of GN. However, its first peak occurs very
early before greater continuous drop to almost constant
value when the percentage of GN is higher than 3 wt%.
When the content of graphene is 3% wt%, the friction
coefficient is the lowest while the friction coefficient
increases again when the content of graphene is 5%
wt%. When the amount of graphene is too much, the
embedded graphene destroys the continuity of PTFE
weakening the lubrication effect. What’s more, graphene
is easy to peel off from the resin matrix.
The good thermal conduction and lubrication effects
of graphene reduce the accumulation of friction heat,

July 18, 2020 Infotxt J Nanoscience & Nanotechol, Volume 01(01): 13–16, 2020

which is favorable for preventing the composite from
rubbing off. This is the reason for the decrease of wear
rate when more grapheme is filled as illustrated in Figure
3b. The volume wear rate of pure PTFE is as high as
897.2 × 10-6mm3/(n · m). A small amount of graphene
(0.5wt%) can make the wear rate drop suddenly. A small
amount of graphene (0.5wt%) can make the wear rate
drop suddenly. The volume wear rate of the composite
containing 3wt% graphene is 20 × 10-6 mm3/(N·m)
being nearly one in 45 of that of PTFE. High specific
surface area favors graphene particle to bond with PTFE
improving the resistance to shear and plastic deformation
of PTFE. In addition, the hardness of the composites
increases with the addition of fillers. After the hardness
increases, the failure speed of the sample surface slows
down in the friction process, which also reduces the wear
rate of the composite to a certain extent.
Figure 4: The thermography at 250 minutes for PTFE (a), 99.5:0.5 PTFE/GN (b), 97:3 PTFE/GN (c) , 95:5 PTFE/GN
(d) and temperature values (e).
The friction evolved as shown by monitoring the
specimen thermography together with COF curve as
shown in Figure 5, from which the shape and the wear
volume of the specimen also can be seen. The radian
of the worn specimen becomes smaller for composites
compared with PTFE. The favorable effects depend on the
filling amount of grapheme as illustrated by the contrast
of Figure 5a-c. Thus, the color of temperature nephogram
reflects the friction while its shape corresponding to the
wear.
Now, the focus is laid to the central point (almost
with highest temperature) of the specimen. The highest
temperature for each specimen changes with time as
shown in Figure 5d. The temperature rapidly rises and
then slowly climbs with time. There is a transition from
July 18, 2020 Infotxt J Nanoscience & Nanotechol, Volume 01(01): 14–16, 2020
Graphene Filled Modified PTFE
During the friction test, infrared thermometer was used
to monitor the temperature distrubition. Figure 4 presents
the temperature nephogram for PTFE and composite at
250 minutes from the beginning of friction, whose upper
arc-shaped part is of specimen while the circinate is of
metal opponent. The heat accumulation effect of pure
PTFE is the largest while that of 0.5% wt% GN PTFE
is the smallest. At this time, the strongest friction and
the lowest thermal conductivity are responsive for the
highest temperature for PTFE. In contrast, the situation
is improved as being representative of lower temperature
through better heat transfer for composites filled with
grapheme. The lowest increment in temperature for the
composite of 99.5:0.5 PTFE/GN is due to the shedding
of small blocks, which take away a lot of heat. The effects
for 97:3 PTFE/GN are better than those for 95:5 PTFE/
GN because of the lower friction heating.
adbrasive wear to adhesive wear due to surface softening
by friction heating for specimen under 200N in friction
against the rotating metal ring at of 200RPM. In the first
stage, more grapheme particles rub the metal inducing
higher temperature for composite with its higher
content. However, In successive friction and wear, the
convex domains are grinded to forming flat surface on
specimen while some matrix transfers to the opponent
forming slip film, where grapheme acts as lubricant as
indicated by lower temperature in the latter stage for
composites. It is noted that the final temperature is lowest
for 99.5:0.5PTFE/GN than PTFE and composites with
higher percentage of grapheme because the PTFE flakes
peels off on the specimen, whose insufficient hardening
cannot offset softening. This behavior should be called
strip-adhesive wear.

Figure 5: The evolution of friction coefficient and thermography by infrared thermometer for PTFE (a) , 99.5:0.5PTFE/GN (b), 97:3PTFE/GN
(c) and their comparison (d).
Of course, it is mentioned that the transition strongly
depends on slip velocity (here corresponding to rotation
speed) and normal load and the surface roughness.
Conclusion
The addition of graphene can greatly increase the wear
resistance of PTFE due to improved thermal conductivity.
The good adhesion between graphene and PTFE makes
the lubrication slip. When the mass fraction of graphene
is 3% in the composite, its wear rate is one of 45th off that
for PTFE at the low friction coefficient of 0.19.
Infrared thermography was successfully used to
monitor the temperature and wear state of specimen. The
temperature evolution implied an abrasive to adhesive
wear transition in friction.
July 18, 2020 Infotxt J Nanoscience & Nanotechol, Volume 01(01): 15–16, 2020
Graphene Filled Modified PTFE
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 Graphene Filled Modified PTFE

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Corresponding author: Wang Kejian, College of

*

Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Beijing University

of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China;
Email: wangkj@mail.buct.edu.cn

July 18, 2020 Infotxt J Nanoscience & Nanotechol, Volume 01(01): 16–16, 2020