Is PTFE the same as carbon fiber?

PTFE and carbon fiber are not the same material. Today, we will introduce the two materials to you.

PTFE is a fluorine-containing plastic, also known as Teflon, Teflon, etc. PTFE plastic is also known as the King of Plastics due to its superior performance in all aspects. PTFE can resist corrosion, high and low temperatures, is non-toxic, excellent insulation, anti-aging, high lubrication, and other excellent properties. However, there are many properties that need to be improved, such as creep, non-stick, abrasion resistance, line swelling and pressure resistance, hardness and so on. In order to further improve these properties of PTFE, other substances such as molybdenum disulfide, glass fiber, graphite, polyphenylene resin, glass fiber, and metal powder can be added to the raw material of PTFE in proportion. The addition of carbon fibers is a common method of modifying PTFE products. The role of carbon fibers in filling PTFE is to increase the creep resistance, load resistance, wear resistance, dimensional stability, tensile strength and other properties of PTFE uses.

Carbon fiber (CF for short) is a new type of fiber material with high strength and high modulus containing more than 95% carbon. It is a microcrystalline graphite material made of organic fibers such as flake graphite microcrystals stacked in the axial direction of the fibers, which are processed by carbonization and graphitization. Carbon fiber is "soft on the outside but rigid on the inside", lighter in mass than aluminum but stronger than steel, and has the characteristics of corrosion resistance and high modulus, making it an important material in both defense and civil applications. It not only has the inherent intrinsic properties of carbon materials but also has the softness and processability of textile fibers, making it a new generation of reinforcing fibers. Carbon fiber has many excellent properties. It has high axial strength and modulus, no creep, good fatigue resistance, specific heat and electrical conductivity between non-metal and metal, and good electromagnetic shielding. The coefficient of thermal expansion is small, corrosion resistance is good, the density of the fibers is low, X-ray permeability is good, the mass is light, and the non-oxidizing environment is resistant to ultra-high temperatures. Compared to conventional glass fibers, carbon fiber has more than three times Young's modulus. Compared with Kevlar, Young's modulus is about twice as high, and it is insoluble and swollen in organic solvents, acids and alkalis, and has outstanding corrosion resistance. The addition of carbon fiber greatly improves the load-bearing capacity of the composite material, and a small amount of graphite is added at the same time as PTFE plus the filling material carbon fiber. The addition of graphite reduces the coefficient of friction between the carbon fiber surface and the counterpart, thus reducing the tendency of the carbon fiber to fall off and improving the wear resistance of the composite material.