Controlling friction and wear of nc-WC/a-C(Al) nanocomposite coating by lubricant/additive synergies

Owing to increasing demands for reductions in emissions and improvements in fuel economy in the automotive industry, there is an urgent need to improve tribological performances of components. In the current paper, an nc-WC/a-C(Al) carbon-based nanocomposite coating was fabricated successfully via the magnetron sputtering process. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the as-fabricated nanocomposite coating were investigated. In particular, its friction and wear behaviors under poly-alpha-olefin oil lubricant added with anti-wear (AW), extreme-pressure (EP), or molybdenum dialkyldithiocarbamate (MoDTC) additive were systemically evaluated. Results show that the nc-WC/a-C(Al) nanocomposite coating has a typical nanocrystallite/amorphous microstructure and good mechanical properties. The significant improvement in the tribological performance of the boundary-lubricated nc-WC/a-C(Al) coating is mainly attributed to the WS₂ or MoS₂ + WS₂-containing tribofilm when S-based EP or MoDTC additive was used. Superior tribological performance of nc-WC/a-C(Al) nanocomposite coating was achieved by lubricant/additive synergies, indicating its potential application as a protective coating for automotive tribo-components.