Synthesized and tribological researching of NbSe2 fibers

For search of new lubricant materials, NbSe₂ fibers with diameters of 80-160nm were synthesized by the thermal decomposition of NbSe₃ obtained from the reaction of Se and Nb in airtight vessel. The crystallite composition, shapes and micro-morphology of the resulting NbSe₂ fibers were analyzed by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scan electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The tribological behavior of NbSe₂ fibers as lubricating oil additive were investigated by UMT-2 Multi-specimen test system. Results show that oil contained NbSe₂ fibers has better tribological properties than pure oil and oil contained common layered NbSe₂ at atmosphere. Copper sintered materials with NbSe₂ fibers were prepared by a process of powder metallurgy. It was found that the incorporation of NbSe₂ fibers contributed to greatly reduce the friction coefficients under all kinds of loads.