Tribological Performance of Stearic Acid Film on Textured 45^# Steel Substrate

A simple two-step process was developed to render steel with lower friction and longer durability. The textured steel substrate was first fabricated by immersed in a sodium hydroxide solution at 95℃ for 24 h. Stearic acid film was then deposited to acquire high hydrophobicity. Scanning electron microscopy, water contact-angle measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to analyze the morphological features, hydrophobicity and chemical composition of prepared samples, respectively. Moreover, the friction-reducing behavior of the organic-inorganic composite film sliding against a steel ball was evaluated in a ball-on-plate configuration. It is found that the stearic acid film on the textured steel led to decreased friction with significantly extended life.