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In wide range of applications of plastic products, wear resistance, as a key performance indicator, plays a decisive role in application range and service life of plastics. With widespread application of plastics in many fields such as automobile manufacturing, mechanical engineering, and electronic equipment, improving their wear resistance has become increasingly important.
Therefore, adding reinforcing materials to improve wear resistance and self-lubricating properties of plastics has gradually become industry's optimal choice. Next, let's take a closer look at 7 common fillers for improving wear resistance of plastics.

 

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), more commonly known as Teflon, was invented by DuPont in 1938. PTFE possesses unique properties; it hardly adheres to any substance and exhibits excellent self-lubricating properties, making it a common application in non-stick coatings. Non-stick coatings on everyday cookware are a classic example of PTFE's effectiveness.
In improving wear resistance of plastics, PTFE micron powder is specifically used as an additive. It boasts the lowest coefficient of friction among all wear-resistant additives. During friction, PTFE micron powder forms a lubricating film on the surface of part, acting like a smooth "protective film," effectively reducing friction and wear. In high-load applications, PTFE micron powder is one of the best wear-resistant additives. For non-crystalline plastics, optimal PTFE addition is 15%; for crystalline plastics, this proportion is 20%.

 

Applications of PTFE micron powder are extensive, covering engineering plastics, coatings, inks, paints, lubricants, films, rubber, and many other fields. In these applications, it significantly enhances properties of base material, including wear resistance, friction resistance, and scratch resistance; imparts easy-cleaning and anti-sticking properties; improves lubrication performance (for engineering plastics modification); and enhances anti-friction and anti-wear properties. For example, mechanical parts made of PTFE-reinforced POM exhibit excellent wear resistance in practical use, greatly extending the service life of parts.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) is a black powder with a metallic luster and a slippery feel to touch. It is an important solid lubricant, especially performing well under high temperature and high pressure environments, and is known as "king of high-grade solid lubricants." In the field of engineering plastics, molybdenum disulfide is mainly used as a wear-resistant additive for nylon plastics.

 

Taking Nylon 66+MoS₂ (grayish-black) as an example, compared with pure resin, Nylon 66 with added molybdenum disulfide shows improvements in rigidity, hardness, and dimensional stability. This is because grains of molybdenum disulfide can form a special effect, improving crystalline structure, enhancing material's load-bearing capacity and wear resistance. However, this material also has certain drawbacks, such as a slight decrease in impact strength. Nevertheless, Nylon 66+MoS₂ is still widely used in gears, bearings, seals, sliders, and other components, playing a crucial role in actual mechanical operation, effectively reducing wear on these components and improving operational stability and reliability of mechanical equipment.

Graphite possesses a unique chemical structure, resembling a lattice. This unique structure allows graphite molecules to slide easily against each other under very little friction. This wear-resistant property is particularly important in water-containing environments, as presence of water molecules exacerbates friction between materials, while graphite's special structure effectively mitigates this friction.

 

Based on this property, graphite has become an ideal wear-resistant additive, widely used in many applications submerged in water, such as water-filled housings, impellers, and value seals. In these applications, graphite can significantly improve wear resistance of plastics in aqueous environments, ensuring long-term stable operation of related equipment in harsh, humid environments, reducing frequency of equipment maintenance and replacement, and lowering operating costs.

Polysiloxane liquids are migrating wear-resistant additives. When added to thermoplastics, they slowly migrate to the surface of part, forming a continuous thin film. This film acts like an invisible "armor," effectively resisting external friction and wear.
Polysiloxanes have a wide viscosity range. Generally, the lower viscosity of polysiloxane, the more fluid it is, allowing it to migrate to surface of part more quickly, thus providing better wear resistance.

 

However, if viscosity of polysiloxane is too low, it is more volatile in part and will quickly migrate and disappear, significantly reducing its wear resistance. Therefore, when selecting polysiloxanes as additives, it is necessary to rationally control their viscosity based on specific application requirements and process conditions to ensure optimal wear resistance.

Glass fiber is an inorganic non-metallic material, primarily made from silicon dioxide, with diameters typically ranging from a few micrometers to over twenty micrometers. Glass fiber possesses advantages such as good insulation, strong heat resistance, good corrosion resistance, and high mechanical strength, making it frequently used as a reinforcing material for plastics.
Although glass fiber itself is brittle and has poor wear resistance, it plays a unique role when used to reinforce plastics. Glass fiber can provide a strong mechanical bond between polymers, acting like a robust bridge within plastic's molecular structure, tightly connecting molecules, thus increasing the overall integrity of thermoplastic structure, effectively improving its wear resistance.
Glass fiber reinforced plastics have wide applications in various mechanical parts, such as water pumps, water valves, bearings, bushings, gears, supports, and rollers. In these mechanical parts, glass fiber reinforced plastics can withstand greater mechanical stress and friction, ensuring that parts maintain good performance during long-term operation, greatly improving working efficiency and service life of mechanical equipment.

 

Carbon fiber is made from viscose filaments, polyacrylonitrile fibers, and pitch filaments, carbonized at high temperatures of 300-1000℃. Similar to glass fiber, carbon fiber can significantly improve integrity, wear resistance, load-bearing capacity, and friction speed resistance of plastic structures. However, unlike glass fiber, carbon fiber is a softer fiber with lower abrasion resistance, which means it will not scratch iron, steel, or steel friction surfaces it rubs against during use.
Utilizing self-lubricating properties of carbon fiber, carbon fiber reinforced plastics play an important role in manufacture of some special-purpose parts, such as oil-free lubricated bearings for aircraft instruments and magnetic tape recorders, oil-free lubricated gears for electric transmission diesel locomotives (avoiding accidents caused by oil leakage), and oil-free lubricated piston rings for compressors. These applications not only fully utilize wear resistance of carbon fiber reinforced plastics, but also leverage their self-lubricating properties to achieve oil-free lubrication, reducing use and maintenance costs of lubricating oil, while also improving operational safety and reliability of equipment.