Dry lubricant

Composite material

Tribology

Metallurgy

Materials science

Lubricant

Abrasive

Coating

Friction coefficient

Galling

Adhesion

Lubricity

Ceramics International

Ti3C2, as an emerging and potential solid-lubricant for sliding friction, has been evaluated. The wear rate and friction coefficient of Ti3C2 coatings modified samples are respectively about 10 times and 4 times lower than the unmodified ones. The mechanism of friction reduction and anti-wear is attributed to the hindering effect of Ti3C2 coatings, which prevents the direct contact of the two metallic sliding surfaces and the carbon-rich lubricating transferred film between the contact interfaces, which is generated by friction-induced graphitizing of Ti3C2 coatings during the sliding process. These factors together suppress the occurrence of abrasive and adhesion, resulting in the effectively reducing of friction and wear.

Two-dimensional Ti3C2 coating as an emerging protective solid-lubricant for tribology