Metastable hybridized structure transformation in amorphous carbon films during friction—A study combining experiments and MD simulation

Abstract Amorphous carbon films have attracted substantial interest due to their exceptional mechanical and tribological properties. Previous studies revealed that the amorphous carbon films exhibited lower coefficient of friction (COF) because of the transformation in bond structure from sp3-C to s...

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Main Authors: Yefei Zhou, Zhihao Chen, Tao Zhang, Silong Zhang, Xiaolei Xing, Qingxiang Yang, Dongyang Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Tsinghua University Press 2023-03-01
Series:Friction
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-022-0690-x
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author Yefei Zhou
Zhihao Chen
Tao Zhang
Silong Zhang
Xiaolei Xing
Qingxiang Yang
Dongyang Li
author_facet Yefei Zhou
Zhihao Chen
Tao Zhang
Silong Zhang
Xiaolei Xing
Qingxiang Yang
Dongyang Li
author_sort Yefei Zhou
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Amorphous carbon films have attracted substantial interest due to their exceptional mechanical and tribological properties. Previous studies revealed that the amorphous carbon films exhibited lower coefficient of friction (COF) because of the transformation in bond structure from sp3-C to sp2-C during friction processes. However, the mechanism for such a transformation during friction is not well understood. This study is conducted to get an insight into the metastable transformation in amorphous carbon film during friction by means of experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Relevant wear tests showed that wear of the film changed from an abrasive wear mode to a mixture of abrasion and adhesive wear, resulting in a decrease in growth rate of the wear rate after the running-in stage. It is worth noting that the sp3-C atoms were increased during the running-in stage when the films contained lower sp3/sp2 ratios. However, the formed sp3-C atoms could only be short-lived and gradually transformed to sp2-C atoms with the graphitization generated on the wearing surface of the films. The radial distribution function and translational order parameter indicated that the films’ high sp3/sp2 ratio led to an increased sp2-C proportion on the wear scar after friction, which caused an increased structural ordering.
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issn 2223-7690
2223-7704
language English
publishDate 2023-03-01
publisher Tsinghua University Press
record_format Article
series Friction
spelling doaj-art-45f3d0ea7dca41a1a4d2655d2b205af72025-08-20T01:51:10ZengTsinghua University PressFriction2223-76902223-77042023-03-011191708172310.1007/s40544-022-0690-xMetastable hybridized structure transformation in amorphous carbon films during friction—A study combining experiments and MD simulationYefei Zhou0Zhihao Chen1Tao Zhang2Silong Zhang3Xiaolei Xing4Qingxiang Yang5Dongyang Li6School of Mechanical Engineering, Yanshan UniversitySchool of Mechanical Engineering, Yanshan UniversitySchool of Mechanical Engineering, Yanshan UniversityState Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science & Technology, Yanshan UniversitySchool of Mechanical Engineering, Yanshan UniversityState Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science & Technology, Yanshan UniversityChemical and Materials Engineering Department, University of AlbertaAbstract Amorphous carbon films have attracted substantial interest due to their exceptional mechanical and tribological properties. Previous studies revealed that the amorphous carbon films exhibited lower coefficient of friction (COF) because of the transformation in bond structure from sp3-C to sp2-C during friction processes. However, the mechanism for such a transformation during friction is not well understood. This study is conducted to get an insight into the metastable transformation in amorphous carbon film during friction by means of experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Relevant wear tests showed that wear of the film changed from an abrasive wear mode to a mixture of abrasion and adhesive wear, resulting in a decrease in growth rate of the wear rate after the running-in stage. It is worth noting that the sp3-C atoms were increased during the running-in stage when the films contained lower sp3/sp2 ratios. However, the formed sp3-C atoms could only be short-lived and gradually transformed to sp2-C atoms with the graphitization generated on the wearing surface of the films. The radial distribution function and translational order parameter indicated that the films’ high sp3/sp2 ratio led to an increased sp2-C proportion on the wear scar after friction, which caused an increased structural ordering.https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-022-0690-xamorphous carbon filmmetastable transformationstructural ordermolecular dynamics (MD) simulationtribological performance
spellingShingle Yefei Zhou
Zhihao Chen
Tao Zhang
Silong Zhang
Xiaolei Xing
Qingxiang Yang
Dongyang Li
Metastable hybridized structure transformation in amorphous carbon films during friction—A study combining experiments and MD simulation
Friction
amorphous carbon film
metastable transformation
structural order
molecular dynamics (MD) simulation
tribological performance
title Metastable hybridized structure transformation in amorphous carbon films during friction—A study combining experiments and MD simulation
title_full Metastable hybridized structure transformation in amorphous carbon films during friction—A study combining experiments and MD simulation
title_fullStr Metastable hybridized structure transformation in amorphous carbon films during friction—A study combining experiments and MD simulation
title_full_unstemmed Metastable hybridized structure transformation in amorphous carbon films during friction—A study combining experiments and MD simulation
title_short Metastable hybridized structure transformation in amorphous carbon films during friction—A study combining experiments and MD simulation
title_sort metastable hybridized structure transformation in amorphous carbon films during friction a study combining experiments and md simulation
topic amorphous carbon film
metastable transformation
structural order
molecular dynamics (MD) simulation
tribological performance
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-022-0690-x
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