Mechanism analysis of improved DLC films friction behaviors with liquid sulfidation treatment

Diamond like carbon (DLC) films were treated by liquid sulfidation to improve their friction behaviors. Friction behaviors of DLC films were experimentally evaluated in ambient air under dry friction using GCr15 steel ball sliding over DLC-coated steel flat in a ball-on-disk tribometer system. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy were applied to identify the chemical composition and structure of DLC films. It was found that the content of sp2 carbon bond increased and G peak shifted to high wave number after sulfidation treatment. The measurement results showed that sulfur atoms were chemically bonded and the graphitization occurred in the treated DLC films. It was indicated that the treated DLC films exhibited much better friction behaviors than the untreated films, especially for DLC films deposited with high nitrogen ratio. In this paper, we proposed the possible sulfidation mechanism of sulfurized DLC films. Sulfidation mechanism is postulated that thiourea reacted with oxygen to form sulfur-containing organic compounds which included CSSC, CSOH and (NH2)NHdouble bond; length as m-dashCSO2H and surface diffusion during sulfidation treatment. The anti-friction behaviors of the treated DLC films can be attributed to the production of the compounds containing sulfur on the DLC film surface, the reduce of oxygen content and the presence of graphitization of DLC films.