Macroscopic superlubricity achieved by hydrolysis reaction of ethyl lactate on silicon-doped diamond-like carbon film

Superlubricity between steel/diamond-like carbon (DLC) film could be achieved at vacuum or nitrogen condition, but it would be failed at ambient conditions. In this work, the macroscale superlubricity was achieved at ambient conditions by introducing ethyl lactate into ethylene glycol as lubricant additive for the friction pairs of silicon-doped diamond-like carbon (Si-DLC)/steel. Stable friction coefficient (μ = 0.002) and wear rate of friction pairs with the introduction of ethyl lactate could be respectively reduced by 99 % and 35 %. The characterization tests and density functional theory (DFT) calculation both demonstrated that the partial ethyl lactate was hydrolyzed into lactic acid due to the catalysis effect of steel surfaces. The molecular dynamics (MD) simulation result showed that the lactic acid molecules could be chemically adsorbed on the surfaces of friction pairs, forming a tribofilm through hydrogen bond with ethylene glycol molecules, which led to a significant reduction in the friction coefficient. This work presents a novel approach to achieve superlubricity on Si-DLC film with liquid, providing a great support for industrial application of superlubricity on DLC film.