First-Principles Insights into Lubrication Behaviors of Gallium-Matrix Liquid Metal for Bearing Steel and Albronze Frictional Pairs

The lubrication properties of gallium-matrix liquid metal (GLM) are intimately connected to the tribofilms formed through frictional processes. Physico-chemical properties of the tribofilms depend on the interfacial interactions between GLM and the surfaces of frictional pairs. Therefore, it is significant to reveal the process of interfacial interactions. In this study, considering that Ga and In atoms are the main components of GLM lubricant, the adsorption processes of Ga and In atoms on Fe (111) and Cu (111) surfaces are, respectively, investigated at the atomic level by the density functional theory (DFT) method to have an insight into the lubrication behaviors of GLM for bearing steel and albronze metals. It is found that the adsorptions of Ga atom on both Fe (111) and Cu (111) surfaces are stronger than that of In atom, and thus forming Fe-Ga bond and Cu-Ga bond. Furthermore, interfacial interactional experiments and tribological experiments are conducted to verify the results of first-principles calculations. Tribological experiments demonstrate that with FeGa3 film on the bearing steel surface, the friction coefficient and wear rate can be reduced by 30% and 82%, while with CuGa2 film on the albronze surface, the friction coefficient and wear rate can be reduced by 27% and 94%.