A Comparison Between Graphene and WS2 as Solid Lubricant Additives to Aluminum for Automobile Applications

Authors

Sara RengifoFollow

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Science (MS)

Major/Program

Materials Science and Engineering

First Advisor's Name

Arvind Agarwal

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Co-Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Benjamin Boesl

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Co-Chair

Third Advisor's Name

Norman Munroe

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

Solid lubricant, graphene, tungsten disulfide, friction reduction, wear reduction, tribology

Date of Defense

2015

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to compare graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) and WS₂ as solid lubricant additives to aluminum in order to reduce friction and wear. The central hypothesis of this work relied on lubricating properties of 2D materials, which consist layers that slip under a shear force.

Two aluminum composites were made (Al-2 vol.% GNP and Al-2 vol.% WS₂) by spark plasma sintering. Tribological properties were evaluated by ball-on-disk wear tests at room temperature (RT) and 200^°C.

WS₂ not only presented the lowest COF (0.66) but also improved the wear resistance of aluminum by 54% at RT. Al-2 vol.% GNP composite displayed poor densification (91%) and low hardness resulting in poor wear resistance. The wear rate of Al-2 vol.% GNP composite increased by 233% at RT and 48% at 200°C as compared to pure aluminum. GNP addition also resulted in lower COF (0.79) as compared to pure aluminum (0.87).

Identifier

FI15032181

Recommended Citation

Rengifo, Sara, "A Comparison Between Graphene and WS2 as Solid Lubricant Additives to Aluminum for Automobile Applications" (2015). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1862.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1862