Abstract
The tribology of nanoparticles based on transition metal dichalcogenides has been studied extensively. However, evaluation of metal chalcogenides with other stoichiometries has been lacking. We have studied the friction, endurance, and tribochemistry of bonded molybdenum trisulfide (MoS3) nanoparticle-based coatings for the first time. A facile aqueous chemistry method was used to fabricate the MoS3 nanoparticles. Pin-on-disk tribometry of an MoS3 coating using phenolic resin as the binder was conducted in a dry N2 atmosphere (0.06 % RH, using normal loads of 5 N and 10 N). The results were compared with two types of commercial bonded coatings based on the solid lubricant molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), as well as a bonded coating we formulated with commercial MoS2 nanoparticles. Surprisingly, the MoS3 coating showed similar lubricating ability to the MoS2-based coatings, exhibiting average μ k < 0.05 and endurance greater than a million cycles. To evaluate the tribochemistry occurring in the contact region, tribotesting of an MoS3 coating was halted when steady-state low friction was achieved (i.e., prefailure). Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction on the surface of this wear track showed that the MoS3 had undergone a tribochemical reaction to form the solid lubricant MoS2, which explains the excellent lubricity of the coating. This result opens up the possibility of developing MoS3 nanoparticle-based solid lubricant coatings and MoS3 nanoparticle additives for oils and greases that are synthetically easier and lower cost than formulations based on MoS2 nanoparticles.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Rapoport, L., Feldman, Y., Homyonfer, M., Cohen, H., Sloan, J., Hutchison, J.L., Tenne, R.: Inorganic fullerene-like materials as additives to lubricants: structure-function relationship. Wear 225–229, 975–982 (1999)
Rapoport, L., Leshchinsky, V., Lvovsky, M., Lapsker, I., Volovik, Yu., Feldman, Y., Popovitz-Biro, R., Tenne, R.: Superior tribological properties of powder materials with solid lubricant nanoparticles. Wear 255, 794–800 (2003)
Hu, J.J., Bultman, J.E., Zabinski, J.S.: Inorganic fullerene-like nanoparticles produced by arc discharge in water with potential lubricating ability. Tribol. Lett. 17(3), 543–546 (2004)
Sano, N., Wang, H., Chhowalla, M., Alexandrou, I., Amaratunga, G.A.J., Naito, M., Kanki, T.: Fabrication of inorganic molybdenum disulfide fullerenes by arc in water. Chem. Phys. Lett. 368, 331–337 (2003)
Chhowalla, M., Amaratunga, G.A.J.: Thin films of fullerene-like MoS2 nanoparticles with ultra-low friction and wear. Nature 407, 164–167 (2000)
Tian, Y., Zhao, J., Fu, W., Liu, W., Zhu, Y., Wang, Z.: A facile route to synthesis of MoS2 nanorods. Mater. Lett. 59, 3452–3455 (2005)
Zhang, Z.J., Zhang, J., Xue, Q.J.: Synthesis and characterization of a molybdenum disulfide nanocluster. J. Phys. Chem. 98, 12973–12977 (1994)
Pourabbas, B., Jamshidi, B.: Preparation of MoS2 nanoparticles by a modified hydrothermal method and the photo-catalytic activity of MoS2/TiO2 hybrids in photo-oxidation of phenol. Chem. Eng. J. 138, 55–62 (2008)
Afanasiev, P., Xia, G.-F., Berhault, G., Jouguet, B., Lacroix, M.: Surfactant-assisted synthesis of highly dispersed molybdenum sulfide. Chem. Mater. 11, 3216–3219 (1999)
Wu, Z., Wang, D., Sun, A.: Surfactant-assisted fabrication of MoS2 nanospheres. J. Mater. Sci. 45, 182–187 (2010)
Wang, H.W., Skeldon, P., Thompson, G.E., Wood, G.C.: Synthesis of molybdenum disulphide by acidification of ammonium tetrathiomolybdate solutions. J. Mater. Sci. Lett. 15(6), 494–496 (1996)
Parenago, O.P., Bakunin, V.N., Kuz’mina, G.N., Suslov, A.Y., Vedeneeva, L.M.: Molybdenum sulfide nanoparticles as new-type additives to hydrocarbon lubricants. Doklady Chem. 383(1–3), 86–88 (2002)
Bokarev, D.A., Bakunin, V.N., Kuz’mina, G.N., Parenago, O.P.: Highly effective friction modifiers from nano-sized materials. Chem. Technol. Fuels Oils 43(4), 305–310 (2007)
Wang, H.W., Skeldon, P., Thompson, G.E., Wood, G.C.: Synthesis and characterization of molybdenum disulfide formed from ammonium tetrathiomolybdate. J. Mater. Sci. 32, 497–502 (1997)
Weber, Th, Muijsers, J.C., Niemantsverdriet, J.W.: Structure of amorphous MoS3. J. Phys. Chem. 99, 9194–9200 (1995)
Hibble, S.J., Wood, G.B.: Modeling the structure of amorphous MoS3: a neutron diffraction and reverse Monte Carlo study. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 126, 959–965 (2004)
Lince, J.R., Fleischauer, P.D.: Crystallinity of rf-sputtered MoS2 films. J. Mater. Res. 2, 827–838 (1987)
Clauss, F.J.: Solid lubricants and self-lubricating solids, p. 99. Academic Press, New York (1972)
Aerospace Standard SAE AS5528A: Lubricant Application, Solid Film, Heat Cured, Corrosion Inhibiting, Revised July 2009 (SAE Committee E-25, SAE Aerospace)
Bhattacharya, R.N., Lee, C.Y., Pollak, F.H.: Optical study of amorphous MoS3: determination of the fundamental energy gap. J. Non Cryst. Solids 91, 235–242 (1987)
Zabinski, J.S., McDevitt, N.T.: Raman spectra of inorganic compounds related to solid state tribochemical studies, USAF Wright Laboratory Report No. WL-TR-96-4034 (1996)
Chang, C.H., Chan, S.S.: Infrared and raman studies of amorphous MoS3 and poorly crystalline MoS2. J. Catal. 72, 139–148 (1981)
Leung, Y.L., Wong, P.C., Zhou, M.Y., Mitchell, K.A.R., Smith, K.J.: XPS studies of the nitridation of MoO3 thin films on alumina and silica supports. Appl. Surf. Sci. 136, 178–188 (1998)
Li, Z., Gao, L., Zheng, S.: SEM, XPS, and FTIR studies of MoO3 dispersion on mesoporous silicate MCM-41 by calcination. Mater. Lett. 57, 4605–4610 (2003)
NIST X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Database, Version 4.1 (National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, 2012). http://srdata.nist.gov/xps/. (Although this database generally gives multiple values for each species and transition, good results can be obtained by using the most prevalent values, and by the database evaluation of data quality for each reference)
Kong, J., Park, K.T., Miller, A.C., Klier, K.: Molybdenum disulfide single crystal (0002) plane XPS spectra. Surf. Sci. Spectra 7, 69–74 (2000)
Schroeder, T., Zegenhagen, J., Magg, N., Immaraporn, B., Freund, H.-J.: Formation of a faceted MoO2 epilayer on Mo (1 1 2) studied by XPS, UPS and STM. Surf. Sci. 552, 85–97 (2004)
Benoist, L., Gonbeau, D., Pfister-Guillouzo, G., Schmidt, E., Meunier, G., Levasseur, A.: X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization of amorphous molybdenum oxysulfide thin films. Thin Solid Films 258, 110–114 (1995)
Muijsers, J.C., Weber, Th., van Hardeveld, R.M., Zandbergen, H.W., Niemantsverdriet, J.W.: Sulfidation study of molybdenum oxide using MoO3/SiO2/Si(100) model catalysts and MoIV 3-sulfur cluster compounds. J. Catal. 157, 698–705 (1995)
Brown, N.M.D., Cui, N., McKinley, A.: An XPS study of the surface modification of natural MoS2 following treatment in an RF-oxygen plasma. Appl. Surf. Sci. 134, 11–21 (1998)
Galtayries, A., Wisniewski, S., Grimblot, J.: Formation of thin oxide and sulphide films on polycrystalline molybdenum foils: characterization by XPS and surface potential variations. J. Electron Spectros. Relat. Phenomena 87, 31–44 (1997)
Liang, K.S., deNeufville, J.P., Jacobson, A.J., Chiannelli, R.R.: Structure of amorphous transition metal sulfides. J. Non Cryst. Solids 35–36, 1249–1254 (1980)
Wang, H.W., Skeldon, P., Thompson, G.E.: Tribological enhancement of aluminum by porous anodic films containing solid lubricants of MoS2 precursors. Tribol. Trans. 42(1), 202–209 (1999)
Iranmahboob, J., Gardner, S.D., Toghiani, H., Hill, D.O.: XPS study of molybdenum sulfide catalyst exposed to CO and H2. J. Coll. Interf. Sci. 270, 123–126 (2004)
Baker, M.A., Gilmore, R., Lenardi, C., Gissler, W.: XPS investigation of preferential sputtering of S from MoS2 and determination of MoSx stoichiometry from Mo and S peak positions. Appl. Surf. Sci. 150, 255–262 (1999)
Buck, V.: Lattice parameters of sputtered MoS2 films. Thin Solid Films 198, 157–167 (1991)
Kelley, K.K.: Contributions to the data on theoretical metallurgy. VII. The thermodynamic properties of sulphur and its inorganic compounds, United States Bureau of Mines Bull. 406 (1937)
Acknowledgments
This work was funded in part by The Aerospace Corporation’s Sustained Experimentation and Research for Program Applications (SERPA) program. We gratefully acknowledge Dowd and Guild, Inc. for supplying a sample of Cytec Phenodur® PR 515/60LG Phenolic resin.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lince, J.R., Pluntze, A.M., Jackson, S.A. et al. Tribochemistry of MoS3 Nanoparticle Coatings. Tribol Lett 53, 543–554 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-014-0293-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-014-0293-4