Evolution of tribo-induced interfacial nanostructures governing superlubricity in a-C:H and a-C:H:Si films

Xinchun Chen, Chenhui Zhang (), Takahisa Kato, Xin-an Yang, Sudong Wu, Rong Wang, Masataka Nosaka and Jianbin Luo ()
Additional contact information
Xinchun Chen: Tsinghua University
Chenhui Zhang: Tsinghua University
Takahisa Kato: The University of Tokyo
Xin-an Yang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Sudong Wu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Rong Wang: Tsinghua University
Masataka Nosaka: The University of Tokyo
Jianbin Luo: Tsinghua University

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) is capable of providing a near-frictionless lubrication state when rubbed in dry sliding contacts. Nevertheless, the mechanisms governing superlubricity in a-C:H are still not well comprehended, mainly due to the lack of spatially resolved structural information of the buried contact surface. Here, we present structural analysis of the carbonaceous sliding interfaces at the atomic scale in two superlubricious solid lubricants, a-C:H and Si-doped a-C:H (a-C:H:Si), by probing the contact area using state-of-the-art scanning electron transmission microscopy and electron energy-loss spectroscopy. The results emphasize the diversity of superlubricity mechanisms in a-C:Hs. They suggest that the occurrence of a superlubricious state is generally dependent on the formation of interfacial nanostructures, mainly a tribolayer, by different carbon rehybridization pathways. The evolution of such anti-friction nanostructures highly depends on the contact mechanics and the counterpart material. These findings enable a more effective manipulation of superlubricity and developments of new carbon lubricants with robust lubrication properties.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01717-8 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-01717-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01717-8

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().