Effect of sliding conditions on the macroscale lubricity of multilayer graphene coatings grown on nickel by CVD

A multilayer graphene (MLG) coating was grown on a nickel substrate by atmospheric chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The macroscale dry sliding friction behavior of the coated specimens against a stainless steel counterface was investigated under various contact loads ranging from 1 N to 5 N and at various rotational speeds from 30 rpm to 240 rpm. After the tests, the sliding surfaces were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopes and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that contact load and sliding speed had significant effects on the lubricity of the MLG coatings under dry sliding conditions. At relatively low contact loads (1-3 N) and sliding speeds (30-120 rpm), the MLG coating exhibited good lubricity with coefficient of friction (COF) below 0.06 and lasted a long period of sliding time for > 3600 cycles. With increasing contact loads and speeds, the COF of the MLG coating was gradually increased and the coating suffered from sudden breakdown after limited sliding cycles, losing its lubricity. Detailed examination and analysis revealed that material transfer occurred at the early stage of the sliding process, where MLG was transferred from the coating surface to the counterface. This graphene transfer was responsible for the lubricity of the sliding pair and the sustainability of the transferred material on the counterface determined the lifetime of the lubricity regime. High contact loads and high speeds favored severe plastic deformation and mechanical damages of the substrate, which limited the lifetime of the transferred material and thus the lifetime of the lubricity regime. Sliding induced defects in the MLG both on the coating and on the counterface were confirmed by Raman spectroscopy.