A new family of low wear, low coefficient of friction polymer blend based on polytetrafluoroethylene and an aromatic thermosetting polyester

To improve the wear resistance of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), a crosslinked aromatic thermosetting polyester (ATSP) has been blended directly with PTFE. Cured ATSP powder which was directly synthesized as a cured powder form was used for this application. Because of the similar processing temperature range of cured ATSP and PTFE, composites within the entire composition range were successfully prepared by blending these two powders using a hot press. Tribological pin‐on‐disk tests (composite pins sliding against gray cast iron disks) showed improvement on friction coefficient of all composites and much less wear than pure PTFE. The composites survived at contact pressures of 7 MPa, which is higher than either pure PTFE or pure ATSP could sustain. With an increase in the amount of ATSP in the composites, storage modulus, and glass transition temperature were higher, and the wear resistance was enhanced. SEM images helped provide explanations for the unusually low mean wear rates that were observed for these composite samples.