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Carbon nanoparticle coatings on laser-patterned stainless-steel surfaces present a solid lubrication system where the pattern’s recessions act as lubricant-retaining reservoirs. This study investigates the influence of the structural depth of line patterns coated with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon onions (COs) on their respective potential to reduce friction and wear. Direct laser interference patterning (DLIP) with a pulse duration of 12 ps is used to create line patterns with three different structural depths at a periodicity of 3.5 µm on AISI 304 steel platelets. Subsequently, electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is applied to form homogeneous carbon nanoparticle coatings on the patterned platelets. Tribological ball-on-disc experiments are conducted on the as-described surfaces with an alumina counter body at a load of 100 mN. The results show that the shallower the coated structure, the lower its coefficient of friction (COF), regardless of the particle type. Thereby, with a minimum of just below 0.20, CNTs reach lower COF values than COs over most of the testing period. The resulting wear tracks are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. During friction testing, the CNTs remain in contact, and the immediate proximity, whereas the CO coating is largely removed. Regardless of structural depth, no oxidation occurs on CNT-coated surfaces, whereas minor oxidation is detected on CO-coated wear tracks.


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Influence of structural depth of laser-patterned steel surfaces on the solid lubricity of carbon nanoparticle coatings

Show Author's information Timothy MACLUCAS1( )Lukas DAUT1Philipp GRÜTZMACHER2Maria Agustina GUITAR1Volker PRESSER3,4,5Carsten GACHOT2( )Sebastian SUAREZ1Frank MÜCKLICH1
Chair of Functional Materials, Saarland University, Saarbrücken 66123, Germany
Institute for Engineering Design and Product Development, TU Wien, Wien 1060, Austria
INM–Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Saarbrücken 66123, Germany
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Saarland University, Saarbrücken 66123, Germany
Saarene-Saarland Center for Energy Materials and Sustainability, Saarbrücken 66123, Germany

Abstract

Carbon nanoparticle coatings on laser-patterned stainless-steel surfaces present a solid lubrication system where the pattern’s recessions act as lubricant-retaining reservoirs. This study investigates the influence of the structural depth of line patterns coated with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon onions (COs) on their respective potential to reduce friction and wear. Direct laser interference patterning (DLIP) with a pulse duration of 12 ps is used to create line patterns with three different structural depths at a periodicity of 3.5 µm on AISI 304 steel platelets. Subsequently, electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is applied to form homogeneous carbon nanoparticle coatings on the patterned platelets. Tribological ball-on-disc experiments are conducted on the as-described surfaces with an alumina counter body at a load of 100 mN. The results show that the shallower the coated structure, the lower its coefficient of friction (COF), regardless of the particle type. Thereby, with a minimum of just below 0.20, CNTs reach lower COF values than COs over most of the testing period. The resulting wear tracks are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. During friction testing, the CNTs remain in contact, and the immediate proximity, whereas the CO coating is largely removed. Regardless of structural depth, no oxidation occurs on CNT-coated surfaces, whereas minor oxidation is detected on CO-coated wear tracks.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes, solid lubricant coatings, carbon onions, direct laser interference patterning (DLIP) surface structuring, electrophoretic deposition (EPD)

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Publication history

Received: 04 December 2021
Revised: 07 March 2022
Accepted: 13 June 2022
Published: 21 August 2022
Issue date: July 2023

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© The author(s) 2022.

Acknowledgements

T. MacLucas and S. Suarez wish to kindly acknowledge financial support by the Deutsche Forschungs-gemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) within the project MU 959/47-1. Furthermore, the authors gratefully acknowledge funding in the ZuMat project, supported by the State of Saarland from the European Regional Development Fund (Europäischer Fonds für Regionale Entwicklung, EFRE). P. Grützmacher and C. Gachot would like to thank the Government of Lower Austria (WST3) for financially supporting the endowed professorship tribology at the TU Wien. V. Presser thanks Eduard Arzt (INM) for his continuing support.

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