Graphite fluoride as a solid lubricant in a polyimide binder

Polyimide resin (PI) was shown to be a suitable binder material for the solid lubricant graphite fluoride, (CF(1.1))n. Comparisons were made to similar tests using PI-bonded MOS2 films, graphite fluoride rubbed films, and MOS2 rubbed films. The results showed that, at any one specific temperature between 25 and 400 C, the wear life of PI-bonded graphite fluoride films exceeded those of the other three films by at least a factor of 2 and by as much as a factor of 60. Minimum friction coefficients for the PI-bonded films were 0.08 for graphite fluoride and 0.04 for MOS2. The rider wear rates for the two PI-bonded films at 25 C were nearly equal.