Probing the ultra-low friction mechanism of hydrogenated carbon films with controllable fullerene-like nano-structures grown with different bias voltage

Abstract

Tribological properties of hydrogenated amorphous carbon films (HACFs) are strongly affected by external atmospheres stimulus. This greatly limited its applications in fields that require special trans-atmospheric environments. Here, a unique fullerene-like (FL) nanostructure was designed to embed in amorphous carbon matrix to improve the friction behavior of HACFs in ambient air. High-frequency pulsed plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition was employed to deposit the films. The HACFs with fullerene-like (FL) characteristics are fabricated with the ‘amorphous to FL’ evolutions. At bias voltage of − 950 V, HACF has the highest odd ring fraction (57.3%) and exhibit the lowest coefficient of friction (0.039) and wear rate (2.2 ×10−8 mm3/Nm) in ambient air. This may provide potential strategies for HACFs to expand the tribology application environments.