Abstract
In this research work, unfilled and monofilled polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) were investigated. The applied fillers were graphene, alumina (Al2O3), boehmite alumina (BA80) and hydrotalcite (MG70). Graphene and Al2O3 are already known in the literature as potential fillers of PTFE, while BA80 and MG70 are novel fillers in PTFE. Materials were produced by room temperature pressing—free sintering method with a maximum sintering temperature of 370 °C. The mass loss and decomposition analyses were carried out by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in two different ways. The first was a sensitivity analysis to gain a better view into the sintering process at 370 °C maximal temperature. The second was a heating from 50 °C up to 1000 °C for a full-scale decomposition analysis. BA80 is a suitable filler for PTFE, as most of its functional groups still existed after the sintering process. Both PTFE and Al2O3 had high thermal stability. However, when Al2O3 was incorporated in PTFE, a remarkable mass loss was observed during the sintering process, which indicated that the decomposition of PTFE was catalysed by the Al2O3 filler. The observed mass loss of the Al2O3-filled PTFE was increased, as the Al2O3 content or the applied dwelling time at a 370 °C sintering temperature increased.
Highlights
Nanoparticles are widely used as reinforcement materials in thermoplastics, as they can achieve relevant improvements, e.g., mechanical, thermal and wear properties [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
The first was between ~343 and 500 ◦ C and came from the decomposition of the amorphous carbon content [21], while the second step was in the range of
The thermal and decomposition analyses of neat PTFE, graphene, Al2 O3, BA80and MG70-filled PTFE were conducted by using the high temperature production method
Summary
Nanoparticles are widely used as reinforcement materials in thermoplastics, as they can achieve relevant improvements, e.g., mechanical, thermal and wear properties [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which is a semicrystalline thermoplastic, gains high importance in sliding and rolling applications, because it can work as both a matrix material and a solid lubricant [9]. PTFE has high thermal stability, excellent chemical resistance, a low coefficient of friction and good self-lubricating properties compared to other semicrystalline thermoplastics. Graphene and alumina (Al2 O3 ) can improve the wear resistance of PTFE by two to three orders of magnitude [13,14,15]. Due to the promising results of graphene- and Al2 O3 -filled PTFE, nowadays a remarkable amount of research work related to these materials is available
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