Tribological Properties of Few-layer Graphene Oxide Sheets as Oil-Based Lubricant Additives

The performance of a lubricant largely depends on the additives it involves. However, currently used additives cause severe pollution if they are burned and exhausted. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new generation of green additives. Graphene oxide（GO） consists of only C, H and O and thus is considered to be environmentally friendly. So the tribological properties of the few-layer GO sheet as an additive in hydrocarbon base oil are investigated systematically. It is found that, with the addition of GO sheets, both the coefficient of friction（COF） and wear are decreased and the working temperature range of the lubricant is expanded in the positive direction. Moreover, GO sheets has better performance under higher sliding speed and the optimized concentration of GO sheets is determined to be 0.5wt%. After rubbing, GO is detected on the wear scars through Raman spectroscopy. And it is believed that, during the rubbing, GO sheets adhere to the sliding surfaces, behaving like protective films and preventing the sliding surfaces from contacting with each other directly. This paper proves that the GO sheet is an effective lubricant additive, illuminates the lubrication mechanism, and provides some critical parameters for the practical application of GO sheets in lubrication.

Improving tribological and corrosion resistance of Ti6Al4V alloy by hybrid microarc oxidation/enameling treatments

A promising duplex coating was prepared by microarc oxidation（MAO） and enameling processes onto polished Ti6A14V alloy. The TiO2 ceramic coating deposited by MAO was characterized and then combined with an enameling treatment in order to improve the tribological and corrosion resistance of Ti6A14V alloy. The morphology, phase composition, and hardness of MAO and MAO/enameling-coated Ti6A14V alloy were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, X-ray diffraction（XRD）, and Vickers microhardness tester, respectively.The tribological performance was investigated using a ballon-disk tribometer. The corrosion resistance was studied using immersion tests and potentiodynamic polarization.Wear tests show that the enamel coating on the MAOcoated surface causes a reduction in the friction coefficient.Immersion tests demonstrate that the duplex coating is more effective in improving the corrosion resistance of Ti6A14V than the MAO coating especially at high temperature（80 ℃）. Potentiodynamic polarization curves reveal that the corrosion potential of the duplex coating increases by about 250 mV and the corrosion current density is slightly lower than that of the MAO coating. The duplex coating is superior to the stand-alone MAO coating in improving the tribological and corrosion behavior of Ti6A14V.

Self-lubrication of tribologically-induced oxidation during dry reciprocating sliding of aged Ti–Ni51.5 at% alloy

The tribological behaviors of Ti–Ni51.5 at%alloy strengthened by finely dispersed Ni_(4)Ti_(3) particles in reciprocating sliding against GCr15,Al_(2)O_(3),and ZrO_(2) at room temperature were studied.Interestingly,the coefficient of friction(COF)suffered a sheer drop(from 0.9 to 0.2)when the aged alloy slid against GCr15 at a frequency of 20 Hz under a 20 N load without lubrication.However,severe‐mild wear transition disappeared when a solutionized alloy was used.Moreover,the COF stabilized at a relatively high level when Al_(2)O_(3) and ZrO_(2) were used as counterparts,although their wear mechanisms showed signs of oxidation.Scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and X‐ray element mappings of the wear scars of the counterparts clearly indicate that the formation of well‐distributed tribo‐layer and material transfer between the ball and disk are pivotal to the severe‐to‐mild wear transition in the aged Ti–Ni51.5 at%alloy/GCr15 friction pair.The higher microhardness and superelasticity of the aged alloy significantly accelerate the material transfer from GCr15 to the disk,forming a glazed protective tribo‐layer containing Fe‐rich oxides.

Self-Lubricating PEO Coating on an Al Alloy Produced by Vacuum Impregnation Post-treatment

The objective of this research was to develop a novel self-lubricating coating on an AA6061 aluminum alloy.Three coatings were prepared by the plasma electrolytic oxidation（PEO） process using 50-, 500-, and 1000-Hz pulsed direct current, respectively. The as-deposited coatings were then post-treated using two different methods, viz., ultrasonic vibration-aided vacuum oil impregnation（UVOI） and oil impregnation under ambient pressure（OIAP）. After posttreatment, an oil-containing, self-lubricating top layer was formed on the coatings. The effects of the coatings＇ surface morphologies and structures on their oil-holding capabilities were discussed. The results revealed that coatings prepared with higher frequency had a greater oil-holding capacity using OIAP post-treatment, while those prepared with lower frequency had a greater oil-containing capability using UVOI post-treatment. These phenomena are related to the morphologies of the coatings produced with various current modes. The tribological properties of the coatings before and after post-treatments were investigated by pin-on-disc sliding wear tests. Due to the formation of a lubricant-containing top layer, the post-treatment coatings had a lower friction coefficient and improved wear resistance compared with the asdeposited coatings. In addition, the coatings after UVOI treatment had better wear performance than those post-treated using the OIAP process. Among all coatings, the coating produced with a 50-Hz pulsed current followed by UVOI posttreatment achieved the lowest friction coefficient（0.03） and best wear resistance when sliding against a Si3N4 ceramic counterface. This study indicates that a novel self-lubricating coating can be prepared by a PEO process combined with vacuum oil impregnation post-treatment.