Polyether ether ketone (referred to as PEEK) not only has excellent mechanical, heat-resistant and chemical resistance properties, but also has low friction coefficient and good load-bearing meshing. It is another class of good self-lubricating materials after polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) It performs better than PTFE in terms of load-bearing capacity and wear resistance, and is especially suitable for harsh environments such as no lubrication, low speed and high load, high temperature, humidity, pollution, and corrosion. On this basis, the addition of carbon fiber not only enhances its mechanical properties, but also has an important impact on its friction properties.

At room temperature, the tensile strength of 30% carbon fiber reinforced PEEK composite material is doubled than that of unreinforced, and reaches three times at 150℃. At the same time, the reinforced composite material has impact strength, flexural strength and modulus. It has also been greatly improved, the elongation rate has dropped sharply, and the heat distortion temperature can exceed 300°C. The impact energy absorption rate of the composite material directly affects the performance of the composite material under impact. The carbon fiber reinforced PEEK composite material shows a specific energy absorption capacity of up to 180kJ/kg.

The reinforcing effect of carbon fiber can also resist the thermal softening of PEEK to a certain extent and form a very high-strength transfer film, which can effectively protect the contact area. Therefore, the friction coefficient and specific wear rate of carbon fiber reinforced PEEK composites are significantly higher than those of pure PEEK. low. Under the same experimental conditions, the friction and wear resistance of carbon fiber reinforced PEEK composites is significantly better than that of glass fiber PEEK composites, and the improvement effect of carbon fiber on the wear resistance of the material is more than 5 times that of the same amount of glass fiber. Carbon fiber-reinforced PEEK composite materials are used in the production of parts, which can effectively avoid such problems as metal or ceramic materials that are prone to surface cracks. Its excellent tribological properties even exceed ultra-high molar mass polyethylene.

The main application areas of carbon fiber reinforced PEEK include the following four aspects:

1. The field of electronic appliances

PEEK can still maintain good electrical insulation in harsh environments such as high temperature, high pressure and high humidity, and has the characteristics of not being easily deformed in a wide temperature range, so it is used as an ideal electrical insulation material in the field of electronic appliances . Polyether ether ketone reinforced by carbon fiber has further improved mechanical properties, chemical corrosion resistance, radiation resistance and high temperature resistance, which further expands its application fields. For example, according to the characteristics of preventing the wafer from electrostatic discharge after carbon fiber reinforcement, the US H-Square company uses it to manufacture vacuum chucks to ensure that the components will not cause pollution and instant discharge in the silicon wafer vacuum handling system to damage the wafer.

2. Aerospace

Because PEEK has the advantages of low density and good processability, it is easy to directly process into high-demand parts, and the carbon fiber-reinforced polyether ether ketone composite material further enhances the overall performance of the polyether ether ketone. It has been increasingly used in aircraft manufacturing. For example, the fairing used in the Boeing 757-200 series aircraft is made of carbon fiber reinforced PEEK. In addition, Gereedschappen Fabrick of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, uses 30% carbon fiber reinforced PEEK composite material to make larger parts, and proves that its mechanical properties can be applied to aircraft balancing devices.

3. Automotive industry

The energy consumption of a car is closely related to the weight of the car. Lightweight cars can not only reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions, but also improve power and safety, which is an effective way to save energy. In addition to lightweight structural design, the use of lightweight materials is a more direct approach. Carbon fiber-reinforced polyetheretherketone composite materials, with their advantages of low density, good performance, and convenient process, appear more and more frequently in the automotive industry, and show great potential for replacing steel with plastic. For example, Robert Bosch GmbH uses carbon fiber-reinforced PEEK instead of metal as the functional part of ABS. Lighter composite parts reduce the moment of inertia, thereby minimizing the reaction time, greatly enhancing the response performance of the entire system, and comparing it to previous use Compared with the metal parts, the cost has been reduced.

4. Medical field

At present, there are dozens of medical polymer materials available, such as polytetrafluoroethylene, polylactic acid, silicone rubber, etc. However, from the perspective of biomedicine, these materials are not ideal, and there are some side effects in the process of use, while PEEK resin Because it has the advantages of non-toxicity, light weight, abrasion resistance, etc., it is the material closest to human bones and can be organically combined with the body. Therefore, polyether ether ketone resin and its composite materials have been deeply studied and applied as orthopedic implants in recent years. In the spine, joints, etc. Relevant studies have proved that compared with the traditional acetabular prosthesis material ultra-high molecular polyethylene, carbon fiber reinforced polyether ether ketone has higher wear resistance and better biocompatibility, and is a future acetabular prosthesis The ideal material. Comparing the cytotoxicity of carbon fiber reinforced polyether ether ketone and titanium alloy, it is found that the cytocompatibility of the two is similar. The carbon fiber reinforced polyether ether ketone composite material can be used as an alternative material for orthopedic fixation instruments in the future.

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