Synthesis and tribological properties of high purity Ti2SC nanolamellas by microwave hybrid heating

Nearly pure Ti2SC powder has been synthesized by microwave hybrid heating a mixture of TiS2, Ti and C powders using Al powder as an additive. The recipes with different mole ratios of TiS2:Ti:C:Al were examined at temperatures from 800 to 1050 °C. The purity of Ti2SC was sensitive to the final temperature and raw material scale, and the addition of Al considerably reduced the calcining temperature. The nearly pure Ti2SC powder can be fabricated reliably on a large scale by sintering the raw materials with a mole ratio of 1.1TiS2:2.9Ti:1.9C:0.3Al at temperatures from 900 to 1050 °C. The tribological properties of Ti2SC as an additive in 150SN base oil were evaluated by a MMW-1A four-ball friction and wear tester. The results showed that under determinate conditions, the base oil containing 3 wt% Ti2SC sample presented good tribology performance under a load of 300 N. The improved tribological properties of the Ti2SC sample could be attributed to the formation of a tribofilm in the friction process.