The presence of fluorine atoms endows fluoropolymer fibers with unique properties such as chemical resistance, high and low temperature resistance, aging resistance and excellent flame-retardant properties. Alfa Chemistry offers fluoropolymer fibers to meet specialty fiber needs.
Typical Categories
- Polytetrafluoroethylene Fiber
The corrosion resistance of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fiber is the highest among existing synthetic fibers. The friction coefficient of PTFE fiber is 0.01-0.05, which is the lowest among existing synthetic fibers. The limiting oxygen index is 90 to 95%, and it is difficult to burn under high oxygen concentration. It has a wide temperature range, good weather resistance and aging resistance. Besides, PTFE fiber has low electrical and thermal conductivity, constant dielectric constant and dielectric loss in a wide frequency range, and high-volume resistivity and surface resistivity. It is a good electrical and thermal insulation material under high temperature and high humidity.
- Polyvinylidene Fluoride Fiber
Since there are two fluorine atoms in the polymer chain link less than that of polytetrafluoroethylene, the solvent resistance and heat resistance of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) fibers are slightly lower than those of PTFE fibers, and can be dissolved in acetone for wet spinning. The fiber has high mechanical strength and dielectric constant, weather resistance, chemical resistance, oil resistance, abrasion resistance and insulation, and low refractive index.
Tetrafluoroethylene and hexafluoropropylene copolymer (TFE-HFP) fiber has excellent impact resistance, but slightly lower heat resistance, and can be formed by melt spinning. Its uses mainly include filter materials and filter screens for strong corrosive gases and liquids. Ethylene-chlorotrifluoroethylene copolymer fiber has better flame resistance with limiting oxygen index of 48 to 50%, and its modulus is 10 times higher than that of PVDF and TFE-HFP copolymer fibers.
Properties
The structure of the fluoropolymer molecules is fully transferred to their properties in the solid phase, i.e., the properties of fibers. The properties of fluoropolymer fibers/yarns are closely related to the type of initial polymer and the method of manufacture. The basic mechanical properties of several fluoropolymer fibers are shown as follows. (CP in the table is the abbreviation of copolymer) [1]
Research And Application
Fluoropolymer fibers and products have potential applications in electrical and electronic, textile, aerospace, construction, medicine, transportation, filtration and other fields. For example, PTFE fibers work well in self-cleaning filter media due to their low surface free energy. [2]
In addition, studies have shown that fluoropolymer fibers can also be used as solid fiber lubricants to improve the friction properties of composites. The researchers systematically investigated the effect of the orientation of PTFE fibers on the tribological properties of the self-lubricating polymer polyoxymethylene (POM). The results show that the orientation of PTFE fibers is beneficial to reduce the friction coefficient and specific wear rate. [3]
References
- Perepelkin, K.E. Fibre Chemistry, 2004, 36, 43–58.
- Jin Long, et al. Fibers Polym. 2018, 19, 2489–2497.
- Shengtai Zhou, et al. Composites Communications, 2021, 28, 100918.
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