Mechanical Properties and Vacuum Tribological Performance of Mo–S–N Sputtered Coatings

MoS₂ is the most widely used dry lubricant for low friction applications in vacuum environments. However, due to its lamellar nature it exfoliates during sliding, leading to high wear, high coefficient of friction (COF), and low stability. Here, we report the mechanical properties and the vacuum (10^-4 Pa) tribological performance of nitrogen-alloyed transition-metal-dichalcogenide (TMD-N) coatings. The coatings were deposited using a hybrid deposition method, that is, reactive direct current (DC) sputtering of MoS₂ target assisted by an additional plasma source. The tribological tests were performed at relatively low contact stresses to replicate real industrial needs. The interaction between different mating surfaces (coating versus steel, coating versus coating) has been reported. Additionally, the effects of loads on the sliding properties were also studied for coating versus coating interactions. A maximum hardness of 8.9 GPa was measured for the 37 atom % N-alloyed coating. In all mating conditions, the pure MoS₂ coating had COF in the range of 0.1-0.25 and the least specific wear rates were found to be 3.0 × 10^-6 mm³/N·m for flat and 2.5 × 10^-6 mm³/N·m for cylinder. As compared to MoS₂ coating, the COF and specific wear rates decreased with N additions. The COF was in the range of 0.05-0.1 for Mo-S-N coatings, while coating versus coating displayed the lowest specific wear rates (8.6 × 10^-8 mm³/N·m for flat and 4.4 × 10^-8 mm³/N·m for cylinder). Finally, the increase in load resulted in a decrease of COF, but an increase in the wear rate was observed. The detailed mechanism behind the behavior of the COF for the different mating conditions was presented and discussed. This work brings some important issues when testing transition metal dichalcogenide-based coatings under low contact stress conditions more appropriate for simulating real service applications.