Rapid selection of environmentally friendly layered alkaline-earth metal phosphates as solid lubricants using crystallographic data

Lubricating technologies are essential for saving energy and identifying effective, environmentally friendly layered materials that meet the demands of solid lubricants is an important direction. Herein, we probed the relationships between load-carrying capacity and crystal structure. The results showed that increasing the sliding resistance of interlayers using corrugated layers increased the load-carrying capacity of layered solid lubricants. This finding expands on the traditional lubrication mechanism of layered materials. Following the rules, rapid selection of layered potassium magnesium and calcium phosphates (K-LMP and K-LCP) as effective solid lubricants was achieved using crystallographic data and strict filtering criteria. In order to prepare materials suitable for lubrication, the synthesis of K-LMP and K-LCP was optimised. These materials could be utilised in the food, textile or marine machinery industries in the future. The developed method could successfully guide the synthesis of application-oriented materials.