Towards developing robust solid lubricant operable in multifarious environments

Conventional solid lubricants such as MoS(2), graphite, or diamond-like carbon films demonstrate excellent tribological performance but only in specific environments due to their inherent materials properties. This limitation prohibits using these solid lubricants in environments that change dynamically. This study presents the results of a novel solid lubricant that was developed using a combination of solution-processed 2D-molybdenum disulfide and graphene-oxide (GO) that can be deposited on to stainless steel substrates using a simple spray-coating technique and show exceptional performance in multifarious environments namely, ambient (humid) atmosphere, dry nitrogen, and vacuum. The tribological performance of the coatings was evaluated using a ball-on-disc sliding test and demonstrated an excellent wear/friction performance in all environments and coating survived even after 44 km of linear sliding. Transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy analysis of the tribolayers suggested in-operando friction-induced re-orientation of MoS(2) layers that were protected by GO layers and, an absence of MoO(x) peaks indicate a strong resistance to intercalation with moisture and oxygen. The simplicity and robustness of the hybrid MoS(2)–GO solid lubricant in mitigating wear-friction behavior of steel-on-steel tribopair in a multifarious environment is a game-changing and is promising for various applications.