Premium
Influence of Grain Size and Humidity on the Nanotribological Properties of Wear‐Resistant Nanostructured ZrO 2 Coatings: An Atomic Force Microscopy Study
Author(s) -
Tocha Ewa,
Schönherr Holger,
Julius Vancso G.,
Siebelt Natasha
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2005.00459.x
Subject(s) - materials science , grain size , tribology , cubic zirconia , atomic force microscopy , relative humidity , tetragonal crystal system , humidity , composite material , nanotechnology , ceramic , crystallography , chemistry , crystal structure , physics , thermodynamics
The nanotribological properties of nanostructured thin films of tetragonal ZrO 2 on oxidized Si (100) were studied as a function of grain size and relative humidity (RH) by atomic force microscopy. The nanostructured ZrO 2 showed a 50% decrease in friction coefficient μ compared with oxidized Si (100) in dry nitrogen atmosphere and 40% RH. A maximum of μ was observed at ca. 40% RH for both samples, while there were insignificant differences in μ for ZrO 2 samples with grain sizes between 12 and 30 nm. The good tribological properties open the possibility for nanostructured zirconia to be applied as wear‐resistant, low friction coatings on various materials.