Organic Brake Pads
Brake pads were formerly manufactured using mainly asbestos as the friction material. That's because brake pads are exposed to a lot of friction, which generates a lot of heat. Asbestos is a good material for absorbing and dissipating heat. So what was the problem? When asbestos breaks down, it's creates dust that's dangerous to breathe -- and brake pads can create a lot of brake dust when they're slowing and stopping vehicles on the roads. Now, some brake pads and other brake parts are made from safer organic materials.
Organic brake pads, sometimes called nonasbestos organic brake pads, are made from natural materials liked glass and rubber, as well as resins that can withstand high heat. In fact, the high heat helps to bind the brake pad materials together. Kevlar is also an important component in many organic brake pads. An advantage of organic brake pads, including Kevlar brake pads, is that they're made of materials that don't pollute as they wear and they're easier to dispose of, too. They're also softer than brake pads made of other materials, which means they're often quieter. The downside of organic brake pads is that, because they're softer, they typically wear faster. As they wear, they also create more dust than other types of brake pads.
Ceramic brake pads offer great braking performance, wear well over time and are very lightweight -- all of which are important for high-performance driving. So again, what's the problem with ceramic brake pads? They're very expensive.
Ceramic brake pads are made from ceramic fibers, filler material, bonding agents and they may even have small amounts of copper fibers within them as well. Because they're mostly ceramic, these brake parts dissipate heat well, which keeps performance strong, even after repeated hard stops. They also don't break down very much with repeated use; that means they produce less dust than other types of brake pads -- and the dust that they do produce is lighter in color and doesn't stick to the wheels. However, because they're so expensive, ceramic brake pads aren't for every type of vehicle.
Sports cars that are routinely driven hard -- as part of club racing, for example -- can benefit from ceramic brake pads; however, almost every other vehicle performs just fine with other brake pad materials. For most drivers, the extra performance of ceramic brake pads isn't worth the extra cost.