Comparative study of the tribological and corrosive properties of PTFE composites filled with different fibers

In this work, the tribological properties and mass loss of PTFE composites filled with carbon fiber (CF) or potassium titanate whisker(PTW) after the immersion of 30% sulfuric acid solution for 5 or 15 days were studied under different temperatures (25, 50 and 75°). Results show that PTW/PTFE composites exhibit better anti-corrosive and anti-wear properties than that of PTFE composites filled with CF. The wear rate of PTFE composites increases linearly with the increase of the immersion temperature. The wear rate of PTW/PTFE composites immersed for 15 days is almost the same as the one without immersion. While the wear rate of CF/PTFE immersed for 15 days is 3 times than before immersion. In addition, the wear rate of CF/PTFE composites immersed for 15days is 3.6 times than PTW/PTFE composites. Results also indicate that the wear rate of PTFE composites has the same trend as the corrosive mass loss rate. The wear rate of PTW/PTFE composites lies in the small range of 0.9 to 1.4 ×10^-9 cm³/Nm, while that of CF/PTFE locates in the relatively large range from 2.04 to 4.67×10^-9 cm ³/Nm, which is due to the stable corrosive mass loss rate of PTW/PTFE composites under different test conditions.