Tribological properties of dimensionally stable and high strength Kevlar polyimide composite aerogels

Dimensionally stable and high strength Polyimide(PI)/nKevlar composite aerogels are fabricated by the inclusion of nano Kevlar fibers with PI precursor polyamide acid via solution mixing and subsequent vacuum drying. The rigid macromolecular structure of nKevlars and the intermolecular hydrogen bonding result in lower shrinkage/density and larger porosity. The PI/nKevlar composite aerogels demonstrate a 23.4% reduction in the linear shrinkage. Compared with pure polyimide aerogel, the friction coefficient and wear rate of composite aerogel decreased significantly, with the dry friction wear rate of the PI/nKevlar-1.0 reduced by 34.14% and the friction coefficient of the oil-containing aerogel reduced by 28.29% ascribing to the increased loading bearing of the composite.