Abstract
In this work, we evaluated the effect of the counter-body material (the same or dissimilar) and contact configuration (moving or stationary body), at similar contact tribological conditions, on the tribochemical and nanotopography characteristics of adsorbed surface films. Zinc dialkyldithiophosphate (ZDDP), the best performing anti-wear additive, was used in self-mated steel/steel and DLC/DLC contacts, which were compared with mixed steel/DLC and DLC/steel contacts in 1-h and 6-h sliding tests. The macroscale (tribometer) and nanoscale (atomic force microscopy) friction, thickness, topography, and chemical (attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) properties of the tribofilms were studied. The results revealed unexpectedly large differences in all the studied tribofilm parameters; this is because all the tribofilms are completely different; this includes the chemical composition, which is known to have a crucial effect on the nano- and macro-scale tribological properties. These results clearly demonstrate that the surface material, additives, and common contact operating parameters, that is, pressure, velocity, and temperature, crucially affect the ZDDP tribofilm as well as the position of the moving or stationary surface within the contact, and the material of the moving/stationary bodies.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Slovenian Research Agency ARRS (research core funding No. P2-0231 Tribology and research project No. J2-7115 Nanoscale engineering of the contact interfaces for green lubrication technology). The authors also acknowledge F. Meunier from Oerlikon Balzers for providing the DLC coatings used in this work.
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Lucija ČOGA. She received her bachelor degree in chemistry from University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 2011 and her Ph.D. degree in physics in 2015 from University of Ljubljana. During her Ph.D. study, she was working as a young researcher at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics in the research area of self-assembly of lipophilic nucleoside derivatives in thin surface films. Since 2016, she has been working in the Laboratory for Tribology and Interface Nanotechnology at the Faculty of Mechanical engineering in Ljubljana. Her research areas cover nanoscale interface phenomena, boundary films, and novel green-lubrication technologies. She specialized in characterization of surface films at nanoscale using different scanning probe microscopies, electron microscopy, and neutron reflectometry.
Somayeh AKBARI. She received her bachelor degree in physical chemistry from Tarbiat Moallem University, Iran, in 2010. After that, she studied nanoscience at the Universidad del País Vasco, Spain, from where she received her Master degree in 2012. In 2012, she received Marie Curie scholarship and joined the Laboratory for Tribology and Interface Nanotechnology as a Ph.D. student under the mentorship of Professor Mitjan Kalin. She finished her Ph.D. degree in 2016. During her Ph.D. study, she was working on reaction mechanisms of ZDDP additives in thermal films and tribofilms. Currently, she is employed as CEO of the NanoSciTech Company in Munich, Germany.
Janez KOVAČ. He received his Ph.D. degree in electronic vacuum technologies at the University of Maribor, Slovenia, in 2000. From 1991 to 1996, he was a researcher at the synchrotron light source Elettra in Trieste, Italy. From 1996 to 2003, he was a researcher at the Institute of Surface Engineering and Optoelectronics, and from 2003 to 2019, he is a Senior Research Associate at Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia. He is currently a head of the Laboratory for Surface and Thin Film Analyses at Jozef Stefan Institute. In the period of 2013–2019, he was the president of the Slovenian Vacuum Society. The main fields of scientific interest of Janez Kovač are reactions at solid surfaces, thin films and multilayer structures, plasma physics, high resolution XPS, SIMS and AES depth profiling, and vacuum science and technology.
Mitjan KALIN. He received his Ph.D. degree from Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 1999. After his post-doc research at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, Gaithersburg, USA), he joined the University of Ljubljana in 2000 as an assistant professor, where he is now a full professor, head of the Laboratory for Tribology and Interface Nanotechnology, and head of the Chair for Tribology and Maintenance Technology. Currently he holds a position of a dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in a four-year term. His research areas cover the wear and friction mechanisms of advanced materials, nanoscale interface phenomena, and boundary films and contact engineering for novel green-lubrication technologies.
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Čoga, L., Akbari, S., Kovač, J. et al. Differences in nano-topography and tribochemistry of ZDDP tribofilms from variations in contact configuration with steel and DLC surfaces. Friction 10, 296–315 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-021-0491-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-021-0491-7