Tribological performance of graphene/graphite filled phenolic composites - A comparative study

Tribological performance of Graphene in Phenolic based friction composite containing various ingredients such as fibers, fillers, tribo-modifiers was compared with the sample filled with Graphite. The Graphene powder was dry mixed with the Phenolic resin and characterized with fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Two friction composites were fabricated with the Graphene/Graphite mix. The experimental results show that the Graphene filled Phenolic composite projects high friction stability, friction-fade performance, friction-recovery performance when compared to Graphite filled friction composite. Also, it is observed that the wear resistance of the Graphene composite is three times better than the Graphite based composite which is an essential characteristic of the friction material. The Graphene stabilizes the tribo film formation on the surface of the pad and the rotor which reduces the direct contact of the surface asperities of the pad and disc and reduces the wear of the composite.