Synergy between Covalent Organic Frameworks and Surfactants to Promote Water-Based Lubrication and Corrosion Resistance

Corrosion and friction undulation caused by water-lubricated mechanical devices severely restricts the development of water-based lubricant in practical industries. In this paper, a kind of triazine-based covalent organic framework (TriC) nanomaterial is fabricated as the water-based lubricant additive, and two kinds of surfactant, namely, coconut diethanol amide (CDEA) and Tween 85 (T-85), were chosen carefully as water-based modifiers, respectively. Then, friction behaviors were evaluated using both composite dispersions as the lubricants, compared to either component alone, on an SRV-V tribometer under the high contact pressure. The dramatic reduction in friction coefficient (72.2% and 74.4%) and wear rate (98.0% and 95.8%) is shown by adding 0.1 wt % TriC into CDEA and T-85 aqueous solutions with 1% concentration in comparison with the pure water. More importantly, the perfect anticorrosion on the worn surface of the steel disk is observed during the rubbing process. Subsequently, the preferably competitive adsorption of TriC on the surface of friction pair and two uniquely assembled film configurations depended on surfactant structure are proposed to elaborate the opposite difference in friction and wear resistance as well as perfect anticorrosion.