Facile fabrication of hierarchical carbon fiber-MoS2 ultrathin nanosheets and its tribological properties

A novel lubricating material of hierarchical carbon fiber-MoS2 ultrathin nanosheets (CF-MoS2) was fabricated by one-step hydrothermal solution reaction method. The corresponding phase composition, morphology and formation mechanism were systematically determined by XRD, FESEM and TEM. And the effects of CF-MoS2 on the tribological properties of epoxy (EP) were investigated comparatively using universal micro-tribotester-2 (UMT-2). Results showed that MoS2 ultrathin nanosheets with the thickness of 5-8 nm and size of 300-500 nm were synthesized successfully. And several MoS2 nanosheets assembled together in flower-like shape and were attached onto CF surface uniformly. Furthermore, the XRD pattern analysis of as-prepared CF-MoS2 confirmed that MoS2 was in the form of hexagonal phase. Besides, the shore hardness of EP matrix was improved obviously by the incorporation of CF-MoS2, suggesting the load-carrying capacity of EP was enhanced. More importantly, EP/CF-MoS2 composite had much better tribological properties than EP and other EP-based composites (EP/CF and EP/MoS2) because of the reinforcement effect of CF and lubricating effect of MoS2. In particular, EP/CF-MoS2 composite still possessed good friction-reducing and anti-wear properties under heavy loads. Namely, hierarchical CF-MoS2 was a promising additive to be used in tribology field.