
In-operando visualization for colloid-based lubrication
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Achieving superlubricity, i.e. friction coefficient below 1%, in a sustainable way under severe sliding and sliding/rolling operating conditions is considered as the graal in tribology field1. The severe conditions can be obtained, among others, by a low velocity of the relative motion between the contacting surfaces or by high pressure of contact. Therefore, the goal of this work is the development of new tribo-systems capable of shifting the Stribeck curve towards more severe conditions and lower friction level. To reach such an objective the technological solution proposed is based on two contributions: the static topography and the dynamic topography. The static topography consists of texturing the contacting surfaces of the two counterparts (that are coated with amorphous carbon or not). And the dynamic topography consists of using an appropriate lubricant with micro-colloidal particles or 2D materials such as hypericin, MoS2, pyrolytic carbon etc. This work presents the impact of the presence of 4.5 µm SiO2 tribocolloids coated with 300 nm of pyrolytic carbon on the coefficient of friction for a steel/sapphire contact lubricated with pure glycerol and a glycerol+water mixture. A visualization system, combined with a nomadic tribometer, allows both in operando observation of the dynamics of these tribocolloids in the interfacial zone during the fiction experiment and tracking of the changes occurring in the contact area (Fig. 1).