3.1 Friction tests with different initial contact pressure and contact pairs of an a-C:H disk vs. a SUJ2 ball or a roller, and an a-C:H disk vs. an a-C:H coated roller
Friction tests of the SUJ2 ball and the a-C:H coated disk were conducted at temperatures of 20°C, 50°C, and 80°C. Figure 4 shows the representative friction coefficient data at 80°C for several sliding cycles. The friction coefficient for several initial cycles of the SUJ2 ball in Fig. 4(a) is highest under Sec-DMHP, then it decreases to the same level as Pri-DDHP. On the other hand, such friction reduction is assumed to be due to tribolayer formation on the surface. On the other hand, Sec-DDHP did not show clear friction reduction compared with the other additives. From the viewpoint of initial contact pressure, the SUJ2 roller in Fig. 4(b) shows a lower contact pressure situation compared with the SUJ2 ball in Fig. 4(a). In this situation, all additives showed friction reduction from the very beginning of the friction test and with several cycles. This result indicates that friction coefficient reduction is related to adsorption and tribolayer formation on the surface. Finally, for the a-C:H coated roller in Fig. 4(c), the effect of only an a-C:H coated disk sliding against a-C:H roller situation is observed for each additive.
Figure 5 shows the wear scars observed on the balls. Figure 6 shows the mating surface of the a-C:H coated disks under every temperature. Under GMO [Fig. 6(a1)–(a3), 20–80°C] and Pri-DDHP [Fig. 6(b1)–(b3), 20–80°C], wear scar was appered on the a-C:H coatings; however, there were no clear tribolayers. For the case of Sec-DDHP [Fig. 6(c1)–(c3), 20–80°C] and Sec-DMHP [Fig. 6(d1)–(d3), 20–80°C], a clear tribolayer is observed especially 80°C for Sec-DDHP, and over 50°C for Sec-DMHP. To compare the wear amount of each friction test temperature, a summary of ball wear is shown in Fig. 7(a) and a-C:H disk results are shown in Fig. 7(b). The specific wear rate of the SUJ2 ball at 20°C with Sec-DDHP showed the lowest value; however, this value increased rapidly at 50°C. This difference is assumed to be related to the adsorption ability of the additive because the observed surface did not have clear tribolayer. The additive GMO was assumed to be an adsorption type, and the observation results of Pri-DDHP looked similer to the GMO, Sec-DDHP is also similer surface under 20°C and 50°C. Such that Pri-DDHP was also assumed to be adsorption type, and Sec-DDHP was also same type below 50°C. On the other hand, Sec-DMHP showed almost the same value of specific wear rate from 20°C to 80°C. The surface observation results indicated that Sec-DMHP showed similer surface when it slid under 20°C, then over 50°C surface showed clear tribolayer formation. This implied that the additive changed the wear resistance of the SUJ2 ball, from adsorption to tribolayer formation, with increasing temperature. Figure 7(b) shows the wear of the a-C:H disk. In the case of GMO and Pri-DDHP, the wear volume increased if the temperature rose over 50°C which was assumed that desorption of the additives from the surface. Sec-DDHP and Sec-DMHP showed reduction of specific wear rate because of a tribolayer formation and it would protect the surface. Compared with Sec-DDHP, Sec-DMHP had greater ability to form a tribolayer on the surface under high contact pressure (initially 1.9 GPa).
Friction tests of the a-C:H disk versus the SUJ2 roller were conducted next, and the wear surface of the rollers is shown in Fig. 8. Figure 9(a) and (b) summarizes the specific wear rate of the roller and the disk. The SUJ2 roller wear in GMO was almost the same from 20°C to 80°C. Conversely, Sec-DDHP and Sec-DMHP showed wear reduction from 20°C to 80°C. To confirm a-C:H disk wear from Fig. 9(b), there were not so much differences among additives at each temerature. From the wear amount of the a-C:H disk under high (1.9 GPa) and low (93 MPa) pressure as shown in Fig. 7(b) and Fig. 9(b), a Pri-DDHP-derived tribolayer was assumed to be insufficiently formed on the a-C:H disk at 80°C under high pressure, threrefore, the specific wear rate of Pri-DDHP did not decrease same value as other Sec-DDHP and Sec-DMHP. On the other hand, under the low fressure situation, Sec-DDHP and Sec-DMHP also showed same specific wear rate at 80°C. It implies that low pressure at the contact did not efficiently act to form tribolayer.
Finally, friction tests between an a-C:H coated roller and an a-C:H disk were conducted to determine the differences in ferrous-based material existence in the contact area. Figure 10 shows the wear scar on the a-C:H coated rollers, and Fig. 11 summarizes the specific wear rate of the roller (a-C:H disk wear was not measurable). The specific wear rate of GMO from 20°C to 80°C was the same value across the entire temperature range. This implies that GMO adsorption to the a-C:H did not change at different temperatures.
A summary of the specific wear rate at 80°C of all mated materials is provided in Fig. 12 as a function of Hertzian contact pressure. Sec-DDHP and Sec-DMHP showed lower wear rates. To compare only friction between a-C:H and SUJ2, the SUJ2 roller versus a-C:H disk experiment showed a lower specific wear rate. This result implied that the additives worked actively when in contact with ferrous material.
The friction tests of the a-C:H disk with the SUJ2 ball at 80°C and with Sec-DDHP and Sec-DMHP were confirmed via EDS analysis, as shown in Fig. 13. The SEM images indicated several indentation marks and both surfaces showed carbon, oxygen, and phosphorus. The detailed tribolayer formation mechanism is explored in the next section.
3.2 Tribolayer formation mechanism of Sec-DMHP as a representative additive of hydroxyl with phosphate
The tribolayer formation mechanism was investigated through different friction cycles of 1, 10, and 60-min during friction tests, as shown in Fig. 14. The friction coefficient at the beginning of the each test were also same value. It decreased when the number of sliding cycles exceeded ~ 100 cycles. The tribolayer formation process on the SUJ2 ball and the a-C:H disk was thoroughly analyzed via EDS as shown in Fig. 15. It includes an SEM image of the a-C:H disk surface, measurement specifications, and carbon, oxygen, phosphorus, and ferrous content, which show the same results for the SUJ2 ball across the cycle series. From the EDS analysis, Fig. 15(a)–(i4), (i5), and (i6) show typical adhesion elements from the SUJ2 ball. The wear scar on the SUJ2 ball exhibited some carbon and phosphorus adhesion, as well as oxygen. After 10 min from the beginning of the friction application, the a-C:H surface was covered by oxygen and phosphorus. Nevertheless, a tribolayer on the SUJ2 ball was difficult to detect via EDS. After 60 min of the friction test, the a-C:H coating disk was covered by phosphorus and oxygen. The mating SUJ2 ball surface was slightly covered by oxygen and phosphorus. These results indicated that the initial presence of friction from 0 to 1 min exhibited phosphorus and oxygen, which were generated from the additive and ferrous element acting as an adsorbed material on the a-C:H surface. The friction test from 0 to 10 min showed enhanced tribolayer formation on the a-C:H disk, wherein the contact width of the SUJ2 ball and the a-C:H disk was thoroughly covered by tribolayer. After tribolayer formation, the friction coefficient decreased.
3.3 XPS and ToF-SIMS analysis of the topmost tribolayer surface
According to the friction test results of each additive of the primary and secondary series, it was of interest to determine the molecular bonds included in the tribolayer. The topmost surface of each tribolayer was analyzed via XPS, as shown in Fig. 16. The surface was prepared from the friction of the a-C:H disk against the a-C:H roller at 80°C. Figure 16 includes C1s, O1s, and P2p data. The C1s data was assumed to be related to the additive because of the XPS detection depth (~ 2 nm). All C1s data showed a very small amount of carboxyl group and mainly consisted of sp2 hybridization. The sp3 or aliphatic structure and hydroxyl group existed; however, there were no clear differences between them. Based on the O1s data, Pri-DDHP in Fig. 16(a)–(ii) indicated NBO as the main tribolayer structure. The second highest peak was the C-O-P bond, shich was followed by BO and the C-O-P bond. The P2p data in Fig. 16(a)–(iii) indicated that the main bond could be assumed to be P2p3/2 (C-P-O). The next additive data in Fig. 16(b)–(ii) shows O1s of Sec-DDHP. The BO and the C-P-O peak consisted main peak of O1s [Fig. 16(b)–(iii)]. Finally, the Sec-DMHP tribolayer exhibited primarily BO [Fig. 16(c)–(ii)] and C-P-O bonds [Fig. 16(c)–(iii)]. The main differences between the primary and secondary-type additives were revealed from the O1s peak such that the primary type showed an NBO-type tribolayer at the topmost surface.
The topmost surface of the tribolayer on the a-C:H rollers was measured using ToF-SIMS, as shown in Fig. 17. Each figure includes mass information, a surface observation optical image, and CH, O, C2H, PO2, and PO3 spectra. All ToF-SIMS data indicated that every tribolayer included PO2 and PO3 at the contact area.
3.4 XPS depth analysis for Sec-DMHP
As discussed in previous sections, the friction coefficient decreased after a tribolayer formed on the a-C:H disk surface. The depth information of the tribolayer is of interest because the tribolayer was assumed to form by additive molecule adsorption and a chemical reaction changed the additive structure to other material, like phosphorus oxide. Thus, XPS depth analysis was conducted for both the a-C:H coated roller and disk. Figure 18 summarizes the results of O1s and P2p. Figure 18(a) shows the O1s spectra of the a-C:H disk surface. The topmost surface mainly consisted of the NBO structure. It was assumed that the additive itself adsorbed on the tribolayer. Underneath the NBO structure, the O1s peak center moved toward the BO structure. This result indicated that the inside of the tribolayer was affected by friction and the additive molecular structure changed to BO type. Figure 18(b) shows the P2p spectra, which clearly indicates that the topmost surface is mainly a C-P-O bond structure. However, the inside of the tribolayer consisted of (PO4)3− structure and atomic phosphorus. The counter material of the a-C:H coated roller was covered by NBO, BO, and C-O-P bonds at the topmost surface, as shown in Fig. 18(c). The main structure of the tribolayer also consisted of C-P-O and (PO4)3−. It was assumed that the tribolayer on the a-C:H coated roller was thinner than that of the a-C:H disk because after only a small amount of Ar-ion beam sputtering peeled the topmost adsorbed additive.