High melt flow PAEK compositions

1. A composition (C) comprising:

a. from 20 to 80% by weight (wt. %) of at least one poly(aryl ether ketone) polymer, (PAEK HMF ) polymer, having a melt flow rate (MFR) from 15 g/10 min to 80 g/10 min at 400° C. and under a load of 2.16 kg, as measured in accordance with ASTM method D1238;

b. from 12 to 30 wt. % of at least one poly(tetrafluoroethylene) polymer, (PTFE) polymer, having a D50 particle size from 2 to 8 μm, and having a melting temperature (T mII ) from 321° C. to about 324° C.; and

c. from 10 to 30 wt. % of at least one carbon fiber,

and wherein all wt. % are based on a total weight of the composition (C).

2. The composition (C) according to claim 1 , wherein more than 50% moles of recurring units of the (PAEK HMF ) polymer are recurring units (R PAEK_HMF ) selected from the group consisting of formulae (J-A) to (J-O):

wherein:

each of R′, equal to or different from each other, is selected from the group consisting of halogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, ether, thioether, carboxylic acid, ester, amide, imide, alkali or alkaline earth metal sulfonate, alkyl sulfonate, alkali or alkaline earth metal phosphonate, alkyl phosphonate, amine and quaternary ammonium; and

j′ is zero or is an integer from 0 to 4.

3. The composition (C) according to claim 2 , wherein the (PAEK HMF ) polymer is a polyetheretherketone polymer, (PEEK HMF ) polymer, and the (PAEK HMF ) polymer comprises more than 50 wt. % of recurring units (R PAEK_HMF ) of formula J′-A.

4. The composition (C) according to claim 1 comprising from 55 to 75 wt. % of the (PAEK HMF ) polymer, based on a total weight of the composition (C).

5. The composition (C) according to claim 1 , wherein the melt flow rate (MFR) of the (PAEK HMF ) polymer is from 38 g/10 min to 45 g/10 min at 400° C. and under a load of 2.16 kg, as measured in accordance with ASTM method D1238.

6. The composition (C) according to claim 1 , wherein the (PTFE) polymer has a D50 particle size from 3 μm to 7 μm.

7. The composition (C) according to claim 1 , wherein the carbon fiber is selected from the group of PAN-based carbon fibers (PAN-CF), pitch based carbon fibers, graphitized pitch-based carbon fibers, and mixtures thereof.

8. The composition (C) according to claim 7 , wherein the carbon fiber is a PAN-based carbon fiber.

9. The composition (C) according to claim 1 comprising from 10 to 20 wt. % of the carbon fiber, based on a total weight of the composition (C).

10. A process for manufacturing the polymer composition (C) according to claim 1 , the process comprises mixing:

d. the at least one (PAEK HMF ) polymer;

e. the at least one (PTFE) polymer;

f. the at least one carbon fiber; and

g. optionally, at least one other ingredient (I).

11. The process according to claim 10 comprising mixing the (PAEK HMF ) polymer, the (PTFE) polymer, the carbon fiber, and optionally, the other ingredients (I) by dry blending and/or melt compounding.

12. The process according to claim 10 , wherein the (PAEK HMF ) polymer, the (PTFE) polymer, the carbon fiber, and optionally, the other ingredients (I) are melt compounded in continuous or batch devices.

13. An article comprising the composition (C) according to claim 1 .

14. The article according to claim 13 , wherein the article is a bearing article.

15. A process for manufacturing an article comprising at least one step of injection moulding, extrusion moulding, blow moulding, foam processing, compression molding, casting and coating the composition (C) according to claim 1 .

16. The composition (C) according to claim 1 , wherein the D50 particle size is measured by dynamic or laser light scattering techniques or using screen analysis according to DIN 53196.

17. The composition (C) according to claim 1 , wherein the (PTFE) polymer has a number average molecular weight (Mn) equal to or below 200,000.

18. The composition (C) according to claim 1 , wherein the (PTFE) polymer has a number average molecular weight (Mn) equal to or below 20,000.