Evaluation of tribological and mechanical properties of spark plasma sintered Polytetrafluoroethylene/graphene nanocomposite

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and graphene platelet nano powder (GPN) mixtures were sintered using the spark plasma sintering (SPS) process and the microstructure of the composite was studied using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Nanoindentation was used to evaluate the hardness and creep of the PTFE/GPN nanocomposites. It was found that when the percentage GPN added to the PTFE was 3.25 wt% the hardness of the composite was approximately 182% higher and creep was reduced by about 49% in comparison to unfilled PTFE sintered by the SPS technique. The pin on disc tribometer was used to study the wear rate of the unfilled PTFE and PTFE nanocomposite. The wear rate of all four PTFE/GPN nanocomposites was low when compared to that of unfilled PTFE. The lowest wear rate was observed at 2.25 wt% filler inclusion. This showed that the inclusion of GPN into the PTFE matrix had a positive effect in the wear reduction of the nanocomposite.