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In this work, the ability of ashless anti-wear additives to form protective tribofilms on diamond-like carbon (DLC) and steel surfaces was investigated and compared to the reactions of ZnDTP. Reciprocating sliding tests were performed under mild tribological conditions for steel/steel and DLC/DLC contacts to avoid wearing through the DLC coating. A comparison of the friction behavior of ZnDTP with two ashless additives, a butylated triphenyl phosphorothionate (b-TPPT) and an amine phosphate (AP), indicated that the latter additive behaved in a different manner to the first two. b-TPPT shows the lowest friction coefficient for DLC/DLC contacts whereas the AP give the lowest friction coefficient for steel sliding against steel. AFM and ESEM were performed to analyze the surfaces and showed the build up of tribofilms from ZnDTP and b-TPPT onto both the steel and DLC surfaces. No evidence of such a film formation on DLC was observed when the AP were used.

Increasing use of DLC coatings in oil-lubricated, mechanical systems has led to a great deal of interest in optimising the interactions between lubricant additives and coatings. We have looked at the formation of a tribofilm from ZnDTP on diamond-like carbon (DLC) when sliding in oil against DLC on a polished steel substrate under very low wear conditions. It was found that the tribofilm formed in the absence of iron adhered very weakly to the surface and could be removed by washing in an ultrasonic bath. The wear was too low to be detected with laser profilometry. AFM imaging of the surfaces of steel and DLC after sliding of steel/steel and DLC/DLC showed that the tribofilm formed on DLC had a very different morphology to that formed on steel. EDX was used to demonstrate that the tribofilm contained zinc, sulphur and phosphorus. ToF-SIMS measurements showed that iron was neither present at the DLC surface nor in the tribofilm.