Friction and Wear of Pd-Rich Amorphous Alloy (Pd43Cu27Ni10P20) with Ionic Liquid (IL) as Lubricant at High Temperatures

The friction and wear behavior of palladium (Pd)-rich amorphous alloy (Pd43Cu27Ni10P20) against 440C stainless steel under ionic liquids as lubricants, i.e., 1-nonyl-3-methylimidazolium bis[(trifluoromethane)sulfonyl]amide ([C9C1im][NTf2]), were investigated using a ball-on-disc reciprocating tribometer at ambient, 100 and 200 °C with different sliding speeds of 3 and 7 mm/s, whose results were compared to those from crystalline Pd samples. The measured coefficient of friction (COF) and wear were affected by both temperature and sliding speed. The COF of crystalline Pd samples dramatically increased when the temperature increased, whereas the COF of the amorphous Pd alloy samples remained low. As the sliding speed increased, the COF of both Pd samples showed decreasing trends. From the analysis of a 3D surface profilometer and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) data, three types of wear (i.e., delamination, adhesive, and abrasive wear) were observed on the crystalline Pd surfaces, whereas the amorphous Pd alloy surfaces produced abrasive wear only. In addition, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were performed to study the formation of tribofilm. It was found that the chemical reactivity at the contacting interface increased with temperature and sliding contact speed. The ionic liquids (ILs) were effective as lubricants when the applied temperature and sliding speed were 200 °C and 7 mm/s, respectively.