Carbon Nanotube−MoS2 Composites as Solid Lubricants
- 6 March 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
- Vol. 1 (3), 735-739
- https://doi.org/10.1021/am800240e
Abstract
Solid lubricants (SLs) characterized by low coefficients of friction (μ) and wear rates (w) drastically improve the life span of instruments that undergo extreme frictional wear. However, the performance of SLs such as sputtered or nanoparticulate molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), tungsten disulfide (WS2), or graphite deteriorates heavily under extreme operational conditions such as elevated temperatures and high humidity. Here, we present our preliminary results, which demonstrate that composites of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and MoS2 produced by electrodeposition of MoS2 on vertically aligned CNT films have low μ (∼0.03) and w (∼10−13 mm3/N·mm) even at 300 °C, which are about 2 orders of magnitude better than those of nanoparticulate MoS2-based coatings. The high load-bearing capacity of CNTs provides a strong enduring support to MoS2 nanoclusters and is responsible for their ultralow w. The incorporation of these composites in liquid lubricants reduces the friction coefficient of the liquid lubricants by ∼15%. The technique described here to produce SL coatings with extremely appealing frictional properties will provide valuable solutions for a variety of tribological applications where the coatings encounter high temperature, reduced pressure, and/or low- and high-humidity conditions.Keywords
This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit:
- Morphology and structure of hexagonal MoO3 nanorodsInorganic Materials, 2008
- Functionalization of multiwalled carbon nanotube via surface reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization and as lubricant additivesJournal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry, 2008
- A multiscale experiment on the tribological behavior of aligned carbon nanotube/ceramic compositesScripta Materialia, 2008
- Polymer-Assisted Growth of Molybdenum Oxide Whiskers via a Sonochemical ProcessThe Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2006
- Super-Compressible Foamlike Carbon Nanotube FilmsScience, 2005
- Multifunctional brushes made from carbon nanotubesNature Materials, 2005
- Raman and resonance Raman investigation ofnanoparticlesPhysical Review B, 1999
- Nanotubes from CarbonChemical Reviews, 1999
- Study of Amorphous MoS2 Films Grown by Pulsed Laser DepositionApplied Spectroscopy, 1998
- Disorder-Induced Low-Frequency Raman Band Observed in Deposited MoS2 FilmsApplied Spectroscopy, 1994