The Effect of Morphology on the Tribological Properties of MoS2 in Liquid Paraffin

The tribological properties of liquid paraffin (LP) containing molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) additives, including nano-balls, nano-slices, and bulk 2H-MoS2, are evaluated using a four-ball tribometer. Results show that all MoS2 additives used can improve the tribological properties of LP, and that nanosized MoS2 particles function as lubrication additives in LP better than micro-MoS2 particles do. The LP with nano-balls presents the best antifriction and antiwear properties at the MoS2 content of 1.5 wt%. This is ascribed to the chemical stability of the layer-closed spherical structure of nano-balls. The Stribeck curves confirm that the rotation speed of 1,450 rpm used is located at the mixed lubrication region under 300 N. MoS2 nano-slices have small sizes and easily enter into the interface of the friction pair with a roughness of 0.032 mu m, functioning as a lubricant in LP better than nano-balls do at the MoS2 content of 1.0 wt%. The Stribeck curves also show that the differences between the two nano samples were magnified at high rotation speeds in hydrodynamic lubrication region. The application of nano-slices in high sliding speeds will be more advantageous. This work furthers the understanding of the relationship between the tribological properties and morphology of MoS2.