Abstract
Laminated ternary compound Ti3AlC2 crystals were synthesised by pressureless sintering the mixture powders of 3Ti/1·1Al/1·8C, 3Ti/1Al/1·8C/0·2Sn, 1Ti/1·8TiC/1Al and 1Ti1·8TiC1Al0·1Sn at 1400°C with preliminary liquid magnetic stirring mixing. The X-ray diffraction results indicate that Ti3AlC2 prepared from 3Ti/1Al/1·8C/0·2Sn has the highest purity, and the addition of appropriate Sn favours the synthesis of high purity Ti3AlC2. Scanning electron microscopy images show that Ti3AlC2 samples exhibit lamellar-like microstructure with thickness of ∼100 nm. The tribological properties of Ti3AlC2 as an additive in 100SN base oil were evaluated with a ball on disc tester. The results show that the Ti3AlC2 additives exhibited good friction reduction and wear resistance at 5 wt-% concentration. Under determinate conditions, the base oil containing 5 wt-% Ti3AlC2 samples presented good tribology performance under the load of 15 N. The improved tribological properties of the Ti3AlC2 samples could be attributed to the formation of tribofilm in friction process.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 51275213 and 51302112), Jiangsu National Nature Science Foundation (grant no. BK2011534) and Scientific and Technological Innovation Plan of Jiangsu Province in China (grant nos. CXLX12_0636).