Structure and tribological behavior of Pb-Ti/MoS_2 nanoscaled multilayer films deposited by magnetron sputtering method

摘要

Graphical abstractRelative change of the atomic concentrations in the compound of the (a) film M20, (b) film M40, and (c) film M80 profiles as a function of the sputter time.Display OmittedHighlights•The MoS2/Pb-Ti nanoscaled multilayer films with different bilayer periods were prepared.•The nanoscaled multilayer films show strong (002) preferred orientation.•The d-spacing of the MoS2nanocrystal grains are affected by the nearby metal.•The tribological behavior of the films depending on the elastic modulus and H/(μE).AbstractThe Pb-Ti/MoS2nanoscaled multilayer films with different bilayer period were deposited by unbalanced magnetron sputtering system. The morphology, microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties of the films were investigated. It was found that the film changed from multilayer structure to composite structure as the bilayer period decreased from 25nm to 6nm, due to the diffusion effect. The multilayer film showed a pronounced (002) diffraction peak, the growth of the MoS2platelets below the interface were affected by Pb and Ti, and the c-axis of MoS2platelets were inclined to the substrate at an angle of −30° to 30°. The hardness of the film ranged from 5.9 to 7.2GPa depending on the bilayer period. The tribological behavior of the films was performed under vacuum, and the friction coefficient were typically below 0.25. Furthermore, the nanoscale multilayer film with a bilayer period of 20nm exhibits much better mechanical and tribological properties than pure MoS2. The result indicates that the nanoscale multilayer is a design methodology for developing high basal plane oriented and vacuum solid lubricating MoS2based materials.