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Ga-based liquid metal as an extreme pressure lubricant for steel-ceramic pairs

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Abstract

Extreme pressure lubrication is a crucial engineering problem for many mechanical assemblies. Herein, an extraordinary and novel functional material, Ga-based liquid metal (GLM), is found to be a promising extreme pressure lubricant for steel-ceramic sliding pairs and bears applied load above 1500 N. A Ga-rich metallic tribofilm forms on the frictional interface during sliding, providing good lubricity and bearing capability. In addition, the lubrication performance of GLM strongly depends on its composition and the contacting materials. Ternary Ga-In-Sn alloy has superior lubrication to binary Ga-In alloy. GLM lubrication is more effective on the interfaces of AISI52100/Si3N4 than on those of AISI52100/SiC sliding pairs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    DongSheng Yang, WenYuan Chen, Jiao Chen, QiChun Sun, Hui Tan & Jun Cheng

  2. Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jun Cheng

Authors
  1. DongSheng Yang
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  2. WenYuan Chen
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  3. Jiao Chen
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  4. QiChun Sun
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  5. Hui Tan
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  6. Jun Cheng
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jun Cheng.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51975557 and 51835012), the Outstanding Youth Fund of Gansu Province (Grant No. 20JR5RA571), and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, ACS (Grant No. 2022425).

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Yang, D., Chen, W., Chen, J. et al. Ga-based liquid metal as an extreme pressure lubricant for steel-ceramic pairs. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 65, 1107–1115 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-021-2015-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-021-2015-x

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