Tribological Behavior of B₄C&H-DLC Films in Hydrogen Peroxide Solution

In both industry and daily life, hydrogen peroxide is frequently used. When used in the oxidizing environment of hydrogen peroxide, ceramic and stainless steel parts are vulnerable to excessive wear or premature failure. Al₂O₃ does not react with diamond-like carbon sheets during friction because of its stable characteristics. Increasing its friction chemical components is one of the most efficient ways to further reduce the friction coefficient and wear rate. According to studies, the interaction between Si₃N₄ and SiC balls generated lubricating chemical substances that reduced friction. In order to investigate the influence of Si elements in the friction process with diamond-like carbon-based films in a hydrogen peroxide environment, SiC and Si₃N₄ balls were chosen as dual balls. As a consequence, silicon wafers and 316L stainless steel had been covered with boron and hydrogen-doped diamond-like carbon (B₄C&H-DLC) thin films using a closed-field unbalanced magnetron sputtering approach. Using a ball-and-disk linear reciprocating friction tester, the tribological characteristics of three distinct dual balls (Al₂O₃, Si₃N₄, and SiC) with B₄C&DLC thin films in a hydrogen peroxide environment had been compared. Through the use of SEM, Raman, XPS, nanoindentation, and three-dimensional profilometer methods of testing, the structural and mechanical characteristics of the B₄C&DLC films as well as the changes in the chemical composition and structure of the films before and after friction were also investigated. The mechanisms of B₄C&DLC films' wear and friction when rubbing on Si₃N₄ and SiC were emphasized. The results of this study demonstrated that the B₄C&DLC films, when compared to pure DLC, had superior mechanical properties, with hardness and elastic modulus values of 30.6 and 263.0 GPa, respectively. When friction was applied on Al₂O₃ spheres with dual balls in a hydrogen peroxide the environment, the B₄C&DLC films exhibited a severe abrasive wear behavior resulting from the greater Hertz pressure and micro-cutting effect. After the B₄C&H-DLC thin films were friction-matched with Si₃N₄ and SiC dual balls in a solution of hydrogen peroxide environment, the surface chemical state of the friction sub-wear spot region was further determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was discovered that during friction with the B₄C&H-DLC films, the Si₃N₄ and SiC dyadic spheres underwent intricate friction chemical processed that produced silica and boric acid friction chemical products which exhibited friction-reducing and anti-wear effects. The films' friction coefficients were reduced to between 0.05 and 0.06, and their wear rates to between 0.8 × 10⁻⁷ and 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ mm³/(N·m), respectively. As a result, the present research had demonstrated the friction and wear characteristics of the B₄C&DLC films in an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution. It provided an experimental foundation for the realistic development and use of carbon-based thin films' friction vice under oxidizing conditions as well as an appropriate approach for protecting mechanical parts exposed to extreme conditions.