Achieving robust and reliable ultra- to super-low friction combined with extremely low wear, which is applicable to industrial applications, has always been the pursuit of researchers. In this work, carboxylated graphene quantum dots (CGQDs) were synthesized for dissolution into polyether-modified silicone oil (PESO). The results indicate that CGQDs demonstrate exceptional solubility in PESO, which can be attributed to the favorable charge–transfer interaction between CGQDs and PESO molecules. Tribological tests indicate that the addition of CGQDs to PESO could result in a robust and reliable superior lubrication effect for steel tribopairs under a wide range of testing conditions, with the lowest friction coefficient being approximately 0.02. The investigation of the wear scars indicates that CGQDs can effectively embed into friction contacts due to their ultrasmall size, allowing them to interact effectively with the steel surface through their carboxy groups and therefore forming an in-situ robust CGQDs-based lubricant film. The generated CGQDs-based lubricant film could not only effectively passivate the direct asperity contacts of tribopairs but also provide a shearable path due to its desirable lamellar characteristics. The findings of this work are expected to provide a novel reliable strategy to achieve ultra- to super-lubrication for industrial applications.

The biological materials evolved in nature generally exhibit interpenetrating network structures, which may offer useful inspiration for the architectural design of wear-resistant composites. Here, a strategy for designing self-lubricating medium entropy alloy (MEA) composites with high strength and excellent anti-wear performance was proposed through quasi-continuously networked in-situ carbides and graphene nanosheets. The discontinuous coating of graphene on the MEA powder surface inhibits continuous metallurgy bonding of the MEA powders during sintering, generating the typical quasi-continuously networked architecture. A good combination of mechanical properties with high fracture strength over 2 GPa and large compressive plasticity over 30% benefits from metallurgy bonding that prevents crack initiation and extension. The wear rate of an order of 10⁻⁶ m³·N⁻¹·m⁻¹ ascribing to an amorphous-crystalline nanocomposite surface, tribo-film induced by graphene, as well as the gradient worn subsurface during friction was achieved by the MEA composite, which is an order of magnitude lower than the unreinforced MEA matrix.

The achievement of a superlubric state with vanishing friction and negligible wear has important applications in minimizing energy dissipation and prolonging the service life of moving mechanical systems. However, the search for a superlubricious oil system applicable to industrial fields remains a major challenge. In this work, we demonstrate for the first time that precisely employing polyether modification for silicone oil molecules could induce direct superlubricity and superlow wear for engineering steel tribopairs. Superlubricity originates from the fact that polyether-modified silicone oil (PESO) can effectively employ polyether functional groups to interact with friction surfaces, during which a complex tribochemical reaction process can be induced under the catalytic role of friction, where an organic lubricious film composed mainly of carbon, silicon and oxygen can be induced in situ, which can not only effectively passivate friction surfaces but also enable superlubric sliding by virtue of its easy-to-shear nature. Furthermore, iron oxides and chromium oxides could also be confirmed to be distributed within the tribofilm, which is desirable for increasing the load-bearing capability of the tribofilm and toughness. Thus, a remarkable superlubricity of 0.01 without running-in combined with superlow wear was realized at the same time. The results of this work show high promise in promoting the industrial use of oil superlubricity and revolutionizing the development of mechanical systems.

Friction remains as the primary mode of energy dissipation and components wear, and achieving superlubricity shows high promise in energy conservation and lifetime wear protection. The results in this work demonstrate that direct superlubricity combined with superlow wear can be realized for steel/Si₃N₄ contacts on engineering scale when polyhydroxy alcohol solution was selectively modified by amino group. Macroscopic direct superlubricity occurs because 3-amino-1,2-propanediol molecules at the friction interface could be induced to rotate and adsorb vertically on the friction surface, forming in-situ thick and dense molecular films to passivate the asperity contacts. Furthermore, amino modification is also conducive to improving the lubrication state from boundary to mixed lubrication regime by strengthening the intermolecular hydrogen bonding interaction, presenting enhanced load-bearing capability and reduced direct solid asperity contacts. Thus, direct superlow average friction of 0.01 combined with superlow wear are achieved simultaneously. The design principle of direct superlubricity and superlow wear in this work indeed offers an effective strategy to fundamentally improve energy efficiency and provide lifetime wear protection for moving mechanical assemblies.

Fretting wear damage of high-strength titanium fasteners has caused a large number of disastrous accidents. Traditionally, it is believed that both high strength and excellent ductility can reduce fretting wear damage. However, whether strength and ductility are contradictory or not and their appropriate matching strategy under the external applied normal stress (F_w) are still confusing problems. Here, by analyzing the subsurface-microstructure deformation mechanism of several samples containing various α precipitate features, for the first time, we design strategies to improve fretting damage resistance under different matching relation between F_w and the tensile strength of materials (R_m). It is found that when F_w is greater than R_m or F_w is nearly equivalent to R_m, the deformation mechanism mainly manifests as serious grain fragmentation of β and α_GB constituents. Homogeneous deformation in large areas only reduces damage to a limited extent. It is crucial to improve the strength to resist cracking and wear, but it is of little significance to improve the ductility. However, when F_w is far less than R_m, coordinated deformation ability reflected by ductility plays a more important role. The deformation mechanism mainly manifests as localized deformation of β and α_GB constituents (kinking induced by twinning and spheroidizing). A unique composite structure of nano-grained/lamellar layer and localized deformation transition layer reduces fretting damage by five times compared with a single nano-grained layer. Only when the strength is great enough, improving the plasticity can reduce wear. This study can provide a principle for designing fretting damage resistant alloys.

Sliding friction-induced subsurface structures and severe surface oxidation can be the major causes influencing the wear resistance of ductile metallic materials. Here, we demonstrated the role of subsurface and surface structures in enhancing the wear resistance of an equiatomic metastable CoCrNiCu high-entropy alloy (HEA). The CoCrNiCu HEA is composed of a CoCrNi-rich face-centered cubic (FCC) dendrite phase and a Cu-rich FCC inter-dendrite phase. Copious Cu-rich nano-precipitates are formed and distributed uniformly inside the dendrites after tuning the distribution and composition of the two phases by thermal annealing. Although the formation of nano-precipitates decreases the hardness of the alloy due to the loss of solid solution strengthening, these nano-precipitates can be deformed to form continuous Cu-rich nanolayers during dry sliding, leading to a self-organized nano-laminated microstructure and extensive hardening in the subsurface. In addition, the nano-precipitates can facilitate the formation of continuous and compacted glaze layers on the worn surface, which are also beneficial for the reduction of the wear rate of CoCrNiCu. The current work can be extended to other alloy systems and might provide guidelines for designing and fabricating wear-resistant alloys in general.

The excellent properties of metallic glass (MG) films make them perfect candidates for the use in miniature systems and tools. However, their high coefficients of friction (COFs) and poor wear resistance considerably limit their long-term performance in nanoscale contact. We report the fabrication of a MG/graphene multilayer by the repeated deposition of Cu₅₀Zr₅₀ MG with alternating layers of graphene. The microstructure of the multilayer was characterized by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Its mechanical and nanotribological properties were studied by nanoindentation and nanoscratch tests, respectively. A molecular dynamics (MD) simulation revealed that the addition of graphene endowed the MG with superelastic recovery, which reduced friction during nanoscratching. In comparison with the monolithic MG film, the multilayer exhibited improved wear resistance and a low COF in repeated nanowear tests owing to the enhanced mechanical properties and lubricating effect caused by the graphene layer. This work is expected to motivate the design of other novel MG films with excellent nanowear properties for engineering applications.