Friction materials
Wherever friction performance is needed, you will likely find Imerys’ high quality friction materials providing a solution to your performance targets. Our broad range of products can be found in nearly every friction application from resin-bonded to sintered-metallic.
Here’s the rub
Wherever friction performance is needed, look to our high-quality friction materials for offering the solution. Our broad range of products can be found in every friction material from resin bonded materials and wet friction, to sintered metallic pads, to semi-mets, to low-mets and non-asbestos organic pads, utilized in Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs), cars and trucks, trains, motorcycles, earthmoving machinery, aeroplanes - you name it, we have a material solution for it.
Imerys is unmatched in terms of quality, consistency, performance, capabilities, technical support and global supply. Our material specialist can assist you in formulating the right friction materials to attain the solution for your specific requirements.
Conscious of our role and place within the global industry, and notably within that of the automotive sector, we are tackling sustainability challenges head-on from our operational practices to our production and delivery. Our zirconias in the Greeneville USA plant are produced by nuclear power while our synthetic graphites are produced at our hydroelectric powered site in Bodio, Switzerland and our mica and wollastonites are extracted from our own mines.
Our wide range of mineral products available “under one roof,” grant customers the ability to focus their solution development and purchasing of their raw material needs with one company, able to address an equally wide range of friction applications. Our graphites, zirconias, aluminas, micas, wollastonites, and others are regarded as the industry standards, especially when combined with our in-house expertise.
Meet our solution leaders
Zirconia - Our consistently processed Z99 zirconia is the world standard for use in NAOs, assisting in the development and maintenance of the transfer layer while also exhibiting a medium level of abrasiveness.
Graphites (natural and synthetic) - A key ingredient for lubrication and thermal conductivity of any friction formulation, graphite additives increase stability of the friction coefficient, heat dissipation, wear resistance, and noise reduction.
Calcium carbonate - With various plants across the globe, we are the world leader in the supply of calcium carbonates, which offer a consistent cost effective filler with high temperature capabilities used mainly as a lower cost replacement for barytes.
Mica - Suzorite mica has been widely used in the friction industry for many years offering large platelet morphology and low thermal conductivity in helping reduce noise and vibration while also stabilizing friction in some applications.
Wollastonite - A key component of the friction industry due to its high aspect ratio and rod like structure it helps to reinforce pad structure while also offering a high melting point, wollastonite’s inertness allows it to replace more expensive fibers.
Kaolin - We offer various calcined kaolins that allow you to design the right sizing for use as a cost effective filler in your friction materials.
Petcoke - Used as friction modifiers to keep constant friction coefficient throughout a wide temperature range, coke powders also reduce fading during successive stop brake applications.
Mullite - Sold under our well-known Mulcoa brand, we offer various grades of calcined mullite offering a cost-effective medium to high abrasiveness and we are even able to offer a 0% cristobalite grade.
Aluminas - Our fused aluminas offer a consistent level of abrasiveness for your Low-Met, CV and sintered materials, and have been widely used as friction stabilizers to enhance friction coefficients while offering a higher thermal capability and chemical inertness.
Abrasives
Whether you are looking to polish, sand, smoothen, grind, or even cut a workpiece, you want to be sure that the material used, its hardness and grain size are right for the job at hand. We are the world leader in fused minerals for abrasives, ready to assist and deliver on all your finishing needs.
Graphite
Graphite has a wide variety of properties and uses. Prized for its electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, softness, chemical inertness, heat resistance and lubricity, its applications range from high performance lithium-ion batteries, alkaline batteries, conductive polymers, refractories or brake pads.
China’s electric vehicle (EV) market continues to experience exponential growth, with over half the population projected to drive fully electric or hybrid vehicles by 2025. Inaugurated in October 2023, Imerys’ talc processing plant in Wuhu China is now successfully fueling the Chinese automotive market with the essential mineral solutions it needs to drive its transition towards more sustainable mobility.
Imerys has just announced the selection of two key sites in the Allier region in France for its lithium extraction and transformation project, EMILI. This move is part of an ambitious initiative to strengthen the European battery industry for electric vehicles and contribute to the energy transition.
Conductive carbon blacks are essential for clean and efficient energy solutions such as lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells. As demand for these products rises in automotive and other energy transition sectors, Imerys is continuously improving its innovation, research and production efficiency to deliver beneficial product solutions to its customers. This commitment recently led to the inauguration of the cutting-edge Carbon Black Pilot Plant at Imerys Willebroek.
A campaign of laboratory tests has made it possible to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide using granite from the Beauvoir quarry. These encouraging results confirm Imerys’ technological capabilities and the effectiveness of the processes put in place for the EMILI project.
