Abstract
The present study is focused on the evaluation of the tribological performance of novel Ni/hBN and Ni/WS2 composite coatings electrodeposited from an additive-free Watts bath with the assistance of ultrasound. Lubricated and non-lubricated scratch tests were performed on both novel composite coatings and on standard Ni deposits used as a benchmark coating to have an initial idea of the effect of the presence of particles within the Ni matrix. Under lubricated conditions, the performance of the Ni/hBN composite coating was very similar to the benchmark Ni coating, whereas the Ni/WS2 behaved quite differently, as the latter did not only show a lower coefficient of friction, but also prevented the occurrence of stick-slip motion that was clearly observed in the other coatings. Under non-lubricated conditions, whereas the tribological performance of the Ni/hBN composite coating was again very similar to that of the benchmark Ni coating, the Ni/WS2 composite coatings again showed a remarkable enhancement, as the incorporation of the WS2 particles into the Ni coating not only resulted in a lower coefficient of friction, but also in the prevention of coating failure.
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Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge TSB (now Innovate UK) and EPSRC in UK for their funding through the KTP scheme. The authors would also like to thank Dr James Bowen (Open University) for his assistance with white light interferometry analysis performed at the University of Birmingham.
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Ignacio TUDELA. He received his BEng degree (equivalent) in chemical engineering from the University of Alicante, Spain, in 2008. After that, he worked in different applied electrochemistry projects at the University of Alicante until 2011, when he joined Daido Metal’s European Technical Centre UK as a materials researcher and PhD student in a joint project with Coventry University. After the completion of his PhD degree, in 2015 he became senior materials researcher at Daido Metal’s European Technical Centre UK, leading the Materials Research Team driving the development of novel material solutions and manufacturing processes for different tribological applications. His research interests cover a wide range of areas such as surface, coating and material’s science & engineering and manufacturing; tribology and mechanical engineering; chemistry, electrochemistry and chemical engineering.
Yi ZHANG. He received his BEng degree in polymer materials from East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST) in 2002. He then received the MS degree in surface engineering from the University of Nottingham in 2003 and completed the PhD degree in materials engineering at Loughborough University in 2007. After the completion of his PhD degree, he joined Daido Metal Co. Ltd, European Technical Centre UK as a materials scientist in 2007, becoming principle materials scientist in 2013 leading the Materials Research Team in the UK. Since 2015, he is the Head of Research and Development within European Technical Centre UK, responsible for R&D activities in the UK. His research interests cover a wide range of areas such as material science, surface engineering & manufacturing, tribology, and mechanical engineering.
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Tudela, I., Cobley, A.J. & Zhang, Y. Tribological performance of novel nickel-based composite coatings with lubricant particles. Friction 7, 169–180 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-018-0211-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-018-0211-0