Improving the tribological and corrosive properties of MoS2-based coatings by dual-doping and multilayer construction

The pure MoS2 coating always performs high friction coefficient and short service life when used in high humidity or after long-time storage in humid atmospheric environment. In this study, the MoS2/Pb-Ti composite and MoS2/Pb-Ti multilayer coatings are deposited to improve the corrosion resistance in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution and tribological performance in high humidity condition. The electrochemical impedance spectra and salt spray test shown that the MoS2/Pb-Ti composite and multilayer coatings can inhibit the permeation of oxygen and other corrosive elements, thus resulting a high corrosion resistance. Furthermore, compared with pure MoS2 coating, the tribological performance of the MoS2/Pb-Ti composite and multilayer coatings is also improved significantly owing to the high mechanical properties and compact structure. Moreover, the heterogenous interfaces in MoS2/Pb-Ti multilayer coating play an important role to improve the corrosion resistance and tribological performance of coatings. Overall, the dual-doping and multilayer construction are promising approaches to design the MoS2 coatings as the environmentally adaptive lubricants.