@article{32dad196870e417295fdc80dc9bfe7dc,
title = "Self-healing WS2 tribofilms: An in-situ appraisal of mechanisms",
abstract = "Self-healing tribocoatings are being developed for aerospace applications to improve the lifetime and reduce the surface maintenance of components in motion. Here the tribo-induced self-healing behaviour of a WS2/a-C tribocoating has been evaluated for the first time by in-situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to evaluate the mechanisms of damage and self-recovery. In-situ SEM imaging reveals that scratch damage results in coating brittle fracture and spalling, and that Hertzian pressure affects healing rate at early stages of sliding. WS2 nanocrystallites, formed via atomic rearrangement at flexural interfaces, enable the healing of irregular damages and congruently offer superlubrication in vacuum. Such damage control in tribo-service may make flawless coatings an unnecessary prerequisite in tribo-applications.",
keywords = "In-situ Microscopy, Intelligent coating, Self-healing, Tribology, WS atomic arrangement",
author = "Huatang Cao and Mingwen Bai and Inkson, \{Beverley J.\} and Xiangli Zhong and \{De Hosson\}, \{Jeff Th M.\} and Yutao Pei and Ping Xiao",
note = "Funding Information: The WS2/a-C nanocomposite coating was deposited at University of Groningen, the Netherlands. M.W.B. and B.J.I. acknowledged the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for the program grant EP/R001766/1 as a part of ?Friction: The Tribology Enigma?. P.X. acknowledged Royal Academy of Engineering and Rolls-Royce for appointment of Rolls-Royce/Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Advanced Coating Technology. The authors are grateful for the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials, funded through EPSRC grants EP/R00661X/1, EP/S019367/1, EP/P025021/1 and EP/P025498/1. Funding Information: The WS 2 /a-C nanocomposite coating was deposited at University of Groningen, the Netherlands. M.W.B. and B.J.I. acknowledged the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for the program grant EP/R001766/1 as a part of {\textquoteleft}Friction: The Tribology Enigma{\textquoteright}. P.X. acknowledged Royal Academy of Engineering and Rolls-Royce for appointment of Rolls-Royce/Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Advanced Coating Technology. The authors are grateful for the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials, funded through EPSRC grants EP/R00661X/1, EP/S019367/1, EP/P025021/1 and EP/P025498/1. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Author(s)",
year = "2021",
month = nov,
doi = "10.1016/j.scriptamat.2021.114124",
language = "English",
volume = "204",
journal = "Scripta Materialia",
issn = "1359-6462",
publisher = "PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD",
}