Creation of solid lubricant firms by nanostructure control

The friction coefficient can be decreased by increasing the hardness of a sliding plane while maintaining low shear resistance parallel to its substrate using nanostructural control techniques. Herein, nanoperiodic multilayer films composed of solid lubricant materials were proposed to develop a new solid lubricant film having lower friction than that of conventional solid lubricant films. The applied solid lubricant materials were soft metals including Au and Ag, polymers such as PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), and crystallizing layered inorganic compounds such as MoS₂ (molybdenum disulfide), WS₂ (tungsten disulfide), graphite, and hexagonal-BN. The nanoindentation properties of the obtained films were evaluated. Multilayered films with a suitable period showed a high hardness and elastic modulus. These nanoperiod multilayer solid lubricant films exhibited lower friction, higher nanowear resistance, and superior friction endurance than those of monolayer films. (author)