Electrostatic and tribological properties of hydrogenated diamond-like carbon on anodic aluminium oxide

The electrostatic and tribological properties of three types of anodic aluminium oxide (alumite) and hydrogenated Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) on alumites were investigated. It was first proven that an ultrathin DLC at 5 nm on an insulative surface exhibits slow discharge. For alumites, clear electrostatic discharge behaviour was not observed in spite of the fact that surface resistance was in the dissipative region of 10(10) omega. Upon coating alumites with a hydrogenated DLC, slow charge and discharge were observed. DLC coatings on alumites significantly improved dielectric strength and hardness due to DLC's intrusion into the porous structure of the alumites. The coefficient of friction on alumites, which stood at 0.9 against Al2O3 and E52100 balls, was much improved to 0.1 with a DLC coating, and so was wear loss and life time.

Automated summary

The electrostatic and tribological properties of three types of anodic aluminium oxide (alumite) and hydrogenated Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) on alumites were investigated. It was found that ultrathin DLC on an insulative surface exhibited slow discharge. Clear electrostatic discharge behavior was not observed on alumites, but slow charge and discharge were observed after coating alumites with hydrogenated DLC. DLC coatings significantly improved dielectric strength and hardness of alumites due to their intrusion into the porous structure. DLC coating also greatly improved the coefficient of friction, wear loss, and lifetime of alumites.