A comprehensive experiment of water soluble lubricant covered on gold plated surface

Since the use of some popular solvents such as 1,1,1-trichloroethane and freon are forbidden because of the depletion of the ozone layer, it may not be possible to apply many lubricants on contact surfaces. It is of great urgency to develop new lubricants especially for coating on thin gold electroplated surfaces. TETRA Co. of Japan recently provided a water soluble lubricant to match this requirement. A comprehensive experiment was carried out for studying the new lubricant. Experimental results show its important characteristics: (1) initial high volatility which leads to practical application 96 hrs later after coating; (2) very high insulation resistance in rather dry air, but it drops down significantly in high humidity conditions; (3) moderate inhibiting ability for reducing corrosion in a wet corrosive gas environment; and (4) very high resistance against sliding wear and fretting wear of gold plating.