The healing effect of stearic acid applied on amorphous carbon film with dispersed nanodiamonds

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films have been shown to improve the friction and wear properties of applications with severe loads. Hydrogenated amorphous carbon films (a-C:H), a type of DLC film, were coated onto 440C stainless steel disk surfaces. The plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition method was used as a coating process, and nanodiamond (ND) particles were dispersed into the film during the deposition process. Stearic acid was expected to affect the lubricating properties of the film because of its reported effectiveness on diamond surfaces. A lubricated reciprocal sliding friction test with 10,000 cycles confirmed that stearic acid improved the friction and wear properties of the ND dispersed a-C:H film. Furthermore, film wear caused by a sliding test without stearic acid could be healed by sliding with stearic acid as long as the level of critical damage was not reached. Raman spectra for the worn tracks revealed the healing effect of the stearic acid on the film because the spectra for the worn tracks after 10,000 cycles were identical to those of the control film, which was not worn. In contrast, the spectra for the worn tracks or debris showed a broad D band peak and no G peak, which was consistent with disordered amorphous carbon.