Conductivity and tribological properties of IL-PANI/WS2 composite material in lithium complex grease

Abstract

An ionic liquid-polyaniline/tungsten disulfide (IL-PANI/WS2) composite was synthesized in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazole tetrafluoroborate (LB104) aqueous solution by in-situ polymerization and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. A current-carrying friction and wear tester was used to study the tribological properties of steel—steel and copper—copper friction pairs lubricated by an IL-PANI/WS2 lithium complex grease (LCG). After the experiment, scanning electron microscope was used to observe the surface morphology of the wear scar on the steel and copper plates, and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer was used to analyze the elemental composition of the wear scar surface. The results show that compared with greases containing IL-PANI and WS2, greases containing IL-PANI/WS2 exhibit better antiwear performance when lubricating steel—steel friction pairs and better tribological performance and electrical conductivity when lubricating copper—copper friction pairs. Therefore, it can be concluded that WS2 and IL-PANI have a synergistic effect.