Spinel oxide enables high-temperature self-lubrication in superalloys

The ability to lubricate and resist wear at temperatures above 600 °C in an oxidative environment remains a significant challenge for metals due to their high-temperature softening, oxidation, and rapid degradation of traditional solid lubricants. Herein, we demonstrate that high-temperature lubricity can be achieved with coefficients of friction (COF) as low as 0.10-0.32 at 600-900 °C by tailoring surface oxidation in additively-manufactured Inconel superalloy. By integrating high-temperature tribological testing, advanced materials characterization, and computations, we show that the formation of spinel-based oxide layers on superalloy promotes sustained self-lubrication due to their lower shear strength and more negative formation and cohesive energy compared to other surface oxides. A reversible phase transformation between the cubic and tetragonal/monoclinic spinel was driven by stress and temperature during high temperature wear. To span Ni- and Cr-based ternary oxide compositional spaces for which little high-temperature COF data exist, we develop a computational design method to predict the lubricity of oxides, incorporating thermodynamics and density functional theory computations. Our finding demonstrates that spinel oxide can exhibit low COF values at temperatures much higher than conventional solid lubricants with 2D layered or Magnéli structures, suggesting a promising design strategy for self-lubricating high-temperature alloys.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2024-11-20
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54482-w
Citations
18
Primary Topic
High-Temperature Coating Behaviors
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
23.38

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article

Spinel oxide enables high-temperature self-lubrication in superalloys

Yi Yao, L.J. Moore, Wenjun Cai, Garrett Baucom et al.
18 citations
Nature Communications
High-Temperature Coating Behaviors
23.38
article

Spinel oxide enables high-temperature self-lubrication in superalloys

Yi Yao, L.J. Moore, Wenjun Cai, Garrett Baucom, Bai Cui, Hongliang Xin, Md. Saidul Islam, Zhifei Deng, Honggyu Kim, Eitan Hershkovitz, Qi An, Wenbo Wang, Liping Liu, Xin Chen, Lin Li, Ling Li, Zhengyu Zhang, Zhi Jun Xin, Xiaoqing Wang, Jing Zhao
article en
18 citations

Abstract

The ability to lubricate and resist wear at temperatures above 600 °C in an oxidative environment remains a significant challenge for metals due to their high-temperature softening, oxidation, and rapid degradation of traditional solid lubricants. Herein, we demonstrate that high-temperature lubricity can be achieved with coefficients of friction (COF) as low as 0.10-0.32 at 600-900 °C by tailoring surface oxidation in additively-manufactured Inconel superalloy. By integrating high-temperature tribological testing, advanced materials characterization, and computations, we show that the formation of spinel-based oxide layers on superalloy promotes sustained self-lubrication due to their lower shear strength and more negative formation and cohesive energy compared to other surface oxides. A reversible phase transformation between the cubic and tetragonal/monoclinic spinel was driven by stress and temperature during high temperature wear. To span Ni- and Cr-based ternary oxide compositional spaces for which little high-temperature COF data exist, we develop a computational design method to predict the lubricity of oxides, incorporating thermodynamics and density functional theory computations. Our finding demonstrates that spinel oxide can exhibit low COF values at temperatures much higher than conventional solid lubricants with 2D layered or Magnéli structures, suggesting a promising design strategy for self-lubricating high-temperature alloys.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 15(1)
University of Nebraska–Lincoln (US), Iowa State University (US), University of Florida (US), Arizona State University (US), Jacksonville State University (US), Virginia Tech (US)
National Science Foundation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science, Division of Materials Research, Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
High-Temperature Coating Behaviors
23.38
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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