No abstract

Tested in boundary lubrication, inorganic fullerene-like WS 2 nanoparticles used as additives in oil present interesting friction reducing and anti-wear properties. A dispersion with only 1 wt% of particles leads, from a contact pressure of 0.83 GPa, to a drastic decrease of the friction coefficient below 0.04 and to very low wear. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman Spectroscopy and video imaging were used to explain the lubrication mechanisms. A structural modification of fullerene-like nanoparticles into sheets during the friction test was evidenced to be the main effect at the origin of these properties.

WS2 nanoparticles with closed‐cage structure (fullerene‐like IF) are already being synthesized in macroscopic amounts from the respective oxide nanoparticles. They have been studied as superior solid lubricants under harsh conditions in recent years. Under severe contact conditions both fluids and greases are squeezed out from the contact area and consequently do not provide adequate lubrication conditions. Addition of even a small amount of IF nanoparticles to the oil was found to reduce the friction coefficient and wear rate, and increase the load‐bearing capacity of the friction pairs. Furthermore, IF nanoparticles were impregnated into polymer and metal coatings and into self‐lubricating porous metal parts, and were found to alleviate both friction and wear remarkably well. In another set of experiments, IF nanoparticles were shown to provide excellent tribological behavior for the contact between a ceramic alumina block and silicon nitride ball.The mechanism for the impro ved tribological behavior of the IF nanoparticles is being investigated. In addition to the rolling friction, gradual exfoliation of the IF onions and transfer of monomolecular WS2 sheets onto the metal surface (third body transfer) is shown to play a major role in alleviating friction and wear. This work suggests numerous applications for this new solid‐state nanolubricant.

Using a new quartz-made reactor, large amounts of fullerene-like (IF) MoS 2 nanoparticles were synthesized by reacting MoO 3 vapor with H 2 S in a reducing atmosphere. The nanoparticles were found to be of high crystalline order; with an average size of 70 nm and consist of more than 30 closed shells. Extensive tribological testing of the nanoparticles in two types of synthetic oils-poly-alpha olefins (PAO)-was carried out and compared to that of bulk (2H platelets) MoS 2 and IF-WS 2 . These tests indicated that under high pressure and relatively low humidity, the IF-MoS 2 exhibited a friction coefficient as low as 0.03 and the smallest wear rate of the measured systems. However, its performance was found to be lower in comparison to IF-WS 2 after 2500 cycles, due probably to its inferior chemical stability. This study indicates that the tribological performance of the IF nanoparticles depends strongly on their crystalline order and size.

The excellent shock-absorbing performance of WS2 and MoS2 nanoparticles with inorganic fullerene-like structures (IFs) under very high shock wave pressures of 25 GPa is described. The combined techniques of X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and transmission electron microscopy have been used to evaluate the diverse, intriguing features of shock recovered IFs, of interest for their tribological applications, thereby allowing improved understanding of their antishock behavior and structure-property relationships. Two possible failure mechanisms are proposed and discussed. The supershock-absorbing ability of the IF-WS2 enables them to survive pressures up to 25 GPa accompanied with concurrent temperatures of up to 1000 degrees C without any significant structural degradation or phase change making them probably the strongest cage molecules now known.