Insight into the effect of TDMs on the tribological behaviors of the ionic liquid composite films

Abstract

Ionic liquid (IL) combined with 2D materials has evoked considerable attention in the field of lubrication applications because of their speical structure and outstanding lubrication properties. However, the ambiguous effect of the 2D materials on the friction and anti-wear properties of the IL needs futher study. Here, we have obtained two families of IL composite films with additives of MoS2 and graphene via a combined process of spin-coated and curing, and the distinction of the effects of two additives on the tribological performance of the IL films was studied. The friction tests showed that the friction coefficient and anti-wear life of the IL films were greatly enhanced after the addition of MoS2 or graphene, which could be attributed to the improved load-carrying capacity and the second lubrication phase. Under a low addition content, graphene had more advantages to reduce the friction of the films, and MoS2 was more beneficial to the tribological properties with the additional content increased. The films with low friction and good anti-wear properties may be valuable for the rational design of lubrication films for the practical engineering applications.