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Niobium carbide (NbC) is often used as a reinforcing phase to improve the mechanical properties of composite coatings, but its low thermal conductivity makes the flow of molten pool poor, and the cladding layer is prone to defects such as non-fusion and slag inclusion. Therefore, in this paper, Ni60–NbC composite coatings with different NbC content were prepared by laser cladding technology, and the 10 vol% graphene-20 vol% NbC-70 vol% Ni60 composite coatings were prepared under the optimal NbC component. The effects of the addition of NbC and graphene on the microstructure and microhardness of the coating were systematically discussed. The results show that the microhardness of 20 vol% NbC composite coating is increased from 680.1 HV to 882.9 HV compared with Ni60 coating without NbC.The composite coating with both NbC and graphene has a microhardness of up to 1048HV, which is 18% higher than the composite coating with only 20 vol% NbC. The mechanism is that the addition of graphene promotes the formation of chromium carbide (Cr23C6, Cr7C3) and increases the fluidity of the molten pool, which causes small niobium carbide particles to dissolve and recondense to form large particles. Large niobium carbide particles and chromium carbide jointly inhibit the excessive growth of other grains. This study provides a new idea for laser cladding of nickel-based composite coatings.

In machining processes, the high temperature and stress can lead to plastic deformations of the workpiece material. Thermomechanical loading has a significant impact on the microstructure of the machined surface, including grain deformation, recrystallization, and refinement. Among these factors, grain refinement plays a crucial role in determining the mechanical properties of the materials. To investigate the mechanism of grain refinement on the machined surface of Inconel 718 at different cutting speeds, the experiments and finite element simulations were conducted. The microstructural characteristics were quantitative analyzed, including grain size, grain boundary distribution characteristics, average orientation (KAM), and geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density distribution. The mapping relationship between the multi-physical fields (equivalent plastic strain, temperature) during cutting and the microstructural evolution of Inconel 718 was established. The research indicated that the increasing the cutting speed leads to a higher degree of grain refinement. At a cutting speed of 450 m/min, the maximum grain refinement is achieved with an approximately grain size of 2.48 μm. The contribution from plastic deformation (dynamic recuperation) gradually increases while high temperature remains dominant as factors influencing grain refinement. Conversely, the equivalent plastic strain becomes the primary factor contributing to grain refinement, with a gradual increase in the proportion due to dynamic recrystallization at cutting speeds of 250 m/min and 350 m/min.

This paper investigates the influence of the concentration and particle size of h-BN nanoparticles in a nanofluid on the surface integrity of 304 austenitic stainless steel during turning, focusing on the cutting force, friction coefficient, cutting temperature, surface roughness, surface residual stress, work hardening capacity, and 3D surface topography. The results show that, compared to dry cutting, the addition of 3 wt.% h-BN nanofluid can reduce the friction coefficient on the rake face by 38.9%, lower the cutting temperature by 43.5%, decrease the surface roughness by 53.8%, decrease the surface residual stress by 61.6%, and reduce the work hardening degree by 27.5%. Two-dimensional profiles and the 3D surface topography display a more balanced peak–valley distribution. Furthermore, by studying the effect of different h-BN particle sizes in nanofluids on the surface integrity of the machined workpiece, it was found that nanoscale particles have a greater tendency to penetrate the tool–chip interface than submicron particles. Moreover, the h-BN particles in the nanofluid play a “rolling effect” and “microsphere” effect, and the sesame oil will also form a lubricating oil film in the knife-chip contact area, thereby reducing the friction coefficient, reducing the cutting force, and improving the machining surface quality.

Background: Ginsenoside compound K (CK), the main active metabolite in Panax ginseng, has shown good safety and bioavailability in clinical trials and exerts neuroprotective effects in cerebral ischemic stroke. However, its potential role in the prevention of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury remains unclear. Our study aimed to investigate the molecular mechanism of ginsenoside CK against cerebral I/R injury. Methods: We used a combination of in vitro and in vivo models, including oxygen and glucose deprivation/reperfusion induced PC12 cell model and middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion induced rat model, to mimic I/R injury. Intracellular oxygen consumption and extracellular acidification rate were analyzed by Seahorse multifunctional energy metabolism system; ATP production was detected by luciferase method. The number and size of mitochondria were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy and MitoTracker probe combined with confocal laser microscopy. The potential mechanisms of ginsenoside CK on mitochondrial dynamics and bioenergy were evaluated by RNA interference, pharmacological antagonism combined with co-immunoprecipitation analysis and phenotypic analysis. Results: Ginsenoside CK pretreatment could attenuate mitochondrial translocation of DRP1, mitophagy, mitochondrial apoptosis, and neuronal bioenergy imbalance against cerebral I/R injury in both in vitro and in vivo models. Our data also confirmed that ginsenoside CK administration could reduce the binding affinity of Mul1 and Mfn2 to inhibit the ubiquitination and degradation of Mfn2, thereby elevating the protein level of Mfn2 in cerebral I/R injury. Conclusion: These data provide evidence that ginsenoside CK may be a promising therapeutic agent against cerebral I/R injury via Mul1/Mfn2−mediated mitochondrial dynamics and bioenergy.

Dimple-textured surfaces of square arrays with different geometrical parameters (area density, diameter and depth) were prepared on the surface of GCr15 steel. The friction and wear experiments were carried out under the lubrication of Suspension of graphene and liquid crystal 4-n-pentyl-4'-cyano biphenyl (5CB). By controlling the area density, diameter and depth of the dimples, the lubrication performance of laser surface texturing under the condition of starved lubrication was analyzed, and the reducing friction and wear resistance mechanism of laser surface texture was preliminarily discussed. The lubrication performance of the dimple-textured surface is best when the depth of the dimple is 10 μm, the area density is 8%, and the diameter is 100 μm. The friction coefficient at this textured parameter is 0.031, which is a 32.6% decrease compared to the untextured surface (0.046). The reduction friction mechanism of the textured surface is mainly to improve load-bearing capacity, store lubricant, reduce contact area and secondary lubrication. Meanwhile, XPS analysis shows that during the friction, the graphene/5CB suspension has a tribochemical reaction in the textured surface, and a chemical reaction film is formed on the steel surface. The research results can provide theoretical guidance for the optimization of texture geometric parameters under different application conditions.

Background: Respiratory diseases mainly include asthma, influenza, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary hypertension, lung fibrosis, and lung cancer. Given their high prevalence and poor prognosis, the prevention and treatment of respiratory diseases are increasingly essential. In particular, the development for the novel strategies of drug treatment has been a hot topic in the research field. Ginsenosides are the major component of Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer (ginseng), a food homology and well-known medicinal herb. In this review, we summarize the current therapeutic effects and molecular mechanisms of ginsenosides in respiratory diseases. Methods: The reviewed studies were retrieved via a thorough analysis of numerous articles using electronic search tools including Sci-Finder, ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Web of Science. The following keywords were used for the online search: ginsenosides, asthma, influenza, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary hypertension (PH), lung fibrosis, lung cancer, and clinical trials. We summarized the findings and the conclusions from 176 manuscripts on ginsenosides, including research articles and reviews. Results: Ginsenosides Rb1, Rg1, Rg3, Rh2, and CK, which are the most commonly reported ginsenosides for treating of respiratory diseases, and other ginsenosides such as Rh1, Rk1, Rg5, Rd and Re, all primarily reduce pneumonia, fibrosis, and inhibit tumor progression by targeting NF-κB, TGF-β/Smad, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, and JNK pathways, thereby ameliorating respiratory diseases. Conclusion: This review provides novel ideas and important aspects for the future research of ginsenosides for treating respiratory diseases.

Abstract Background Knowledge of protein motions is significant to understand its functions. While currently available databases for protein motions are mostly focused on overall domain motions, little attention is paid on local residue motions. Albeit with relatively small scale, the local residue motions, especially those residues in binding pockets, may play crucial roles in protein functioning and ligands binding. Results A comprehensive protein motion database, namely D3PM, was constructed in this study to facilitate the analysis of protein motions. The protein motions in the D3PM range from overall structural changes of macromolecule to local flip motions of binding pocket residues. Currently, the D3PM has collected 7679 proteins with overall motions and 3513 proteins with pocket residue motions. The motion patterns are classified into 4 types of overall structural changes and 5 types of pocket residue motions. Impressively, we found that less than 15% of protein pairs have obvious overall conformational adaptations induced by ligand binding, while more than 50% of protein pairs have significant structural changes in ligand binding sites, indicating that ligand-induced conformational changes are drastic and mainly confined around ligand binding sites. Based on the residue preference in binding pocket, we classified amino acids into “pocketphilic” and “pocketphobic” residues, which should be helpful for pocket prediction and drug design. Conclusion D3PM is a comprehensive database about protein motions ranging from residue to domain, which should be useful for exploring diverse protein motions and for understanding protein function and drug design. The D3PM is available on www.d3pharma.com/D3PM/index.php .

Molecular dynamics simulations allow to investigate the microscopic evolution of a structure, and can also point the way to tool material design. In this paper, the effect of adding CaF2 and CaF2@SiO2 on the Si3N4/TiC system is studied using molecular dynamics simulations. The results show that the system with the addition of CaF2@SiO2 to the model has a higher hardness than the system with the addition of CaF2. In order to obtain the optimum parameters for self-lubricating ceramic tools, the effect of adding different amounts of CaF2@SiO2 on the Si3N4/TiC system was investigated. The Si3N4/TiC/CaF2@SiO2 system achieved optimum mechanical properties when four CaF2@SiO2 were included in the model. By analyzing the effect of the sintering temperature on the system, it was deduced that the hardness achieved a maximum value of 15.89 GPa and the modulus of elasticity reached 132.53 GPa when the sintering temperature was at 2073 K. Based on this sintering parameter, the Si3N4/TiC/CaF2@SiO2 composite ceramic tool material was experimentally prepared with the mechanical properties of 15.66 GPa hardness and 128.08 GPa modulus of elasticity. The experimental results were consistent with the simulation results.

Panax ginseng C.A. Mey. has a history of more than 4000 years and is widely used in Asian countries. Modern pharmacological studies have proved that ginsenosides and their compounds have a variety of significant biological activities on specific diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, certain types of cancer, gastrointestinal disease, and metabolic diseases, in which most of the interest has focused on ginsenoside Rd. The evidentiary basis showed that ginsenoside Rd ameliorates ischemic stroke, nerve injury, cancer, and other diseases involved in apoptosis, inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, and autophagy. In this review, we summarized available reports on the molecular biological mechanisms of ginsenoside Rd in neurological diseases, cancer, metabolic diseases, and other diseases. We also discussed the main biotransformation pathways of ginsenoside Rd obtained by fermentation.

Cutting force in lathe work is closely related to tool wear and affects the turning quality. Direct measurement of the cutting force by measuring the strain of the tool holder is challenging because the tool holder design aims to be highly rigid in order to undertake large cutting forces. Accordingly, the most popular dynamometer designs modify the standard tool holder by decreasing the structural rigidity of the holder, which reduces the machining precision and is not widely accepted. In order to solve the issue of the low stiffness of the dynamometer reducing the machining precision, in this paper, the ultra-low strain on the tool holder was successfully detected by the highly sensitive semiconductor strain gauges (SCSG) adjacent to the blade cutting insert. However, the cutting process would generate much heat, which increases the force measuring area temperature of the tool holder by about 30 °C. As a result, the readout drifted significantly with the temperature changes due to the high temperature coefficient of SCSG. To solve this problem, the temperature on the tool holder was monitored and a BP neural network was proposed to compensate for temperature drift errors. Our methods improved the sensitivity (1.14 × 10−2 mV/N) and the average relative error of the BP neural network prediction (≤1.48%) while maintaining the original stiffness of the tool holder. The smart tool holder developed possesses high natural frequency (≥6 kHz), it is very suitable for dynamic cutting-force measurement. The cutting experiment data in the lathe work show comparable performance with the traditional dynamometers and the resolution of the smart tool holder is 2 N (0.25% of total range).

Panax ginseng, as the king of Chinese herb, has significant therapeutic effects on obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, fatty liver disease, colitis, diarrhea, and many other diseases. This review systematically summarized recent findings, which show that ginseng plays its role by regulating gut microbiota diversity, and gut microbiota could also regulate the transformation of ginsenosides. We conclude the characteristics of ginseng in regulating gut microbiota, as the potential targets to prevent and treat metabolic diseases, colitis, neurological diseases, cancer, and other diseases. Ginseng treatment can increase some probiotics such as Bifidobacterium, Bacteroides, Verrucomicrobia, Akkermansia, and reduce pathogenic bacteria such as Deferribacters, Lactobacillus, Helicobacter against various diseases. Meanwhile, Bacteroides, Eubacterium, and Bifidobacterium were found to be the key bacteria for ginsenoside transformation in vivo. Overall, ginseng can regulate gut microbiome diversity, further affect the synthesis of secondary metabolites, as well as promote the transformation of ginsenosides for improving the absorptivity of ginsenosides. This review can provide better insight into the interaction of ginseng with gut microbiota in multiple disorders and ginsenoside transformation.

The small rail roadway stacker is the core equipment of the automated three-dimensional warehouse. Its design directly affects the development trend of the logistics industry, enterprise production efficiency and economic benefits. In this paper, a parametric model of the small rail roadway stacker is developed using the parametric design method, according to the working principle and load-bearing. The safety of the small-sized tracked roadway stacker in three working states is analyzed using the finite element method, according to the working conditions and stress conditions of the small rail roadway stacker. Consequently, it is deduced that all the safety parameters meet the design requirements in the limit state. Moreover, the SolidWorks and ANSYS Workbench software are used for secondary development, while C# is used to compile the parametric design software of the small rail roadway stacker, which integrates the functions of three-dimensional model design, engineering drawing generation and finite element security analysis into a program software. Furthermore, by the visual parameter setting and command operation, the program background automatically calls the design software for design and safety analysis. Finally, the example verifies the efficiency of the parametric design software for the small rail roadway stacker.

The addition of CaF2@SiO2 and SiC whiskers to ceramic tools can improve their flexural strength and fracture toughness, reduce surface damage, and improve their cutting performance. The cutting experiments showed that under the same cutting conditions, the surface roughness of the workpiece processed with the Al2O3/TiC/SiC/CaF2@SiO2 (ATSC10) tool was significantly lower than that of the workpiece processed with the Al2O3/TiC/ SiC (ATS) tool. Additionally, the main cutting force and cutting temperature when cutting with the ATSC10 tool were lower by 30 and 31.7%, respectively. These results were attributed to the precipitation of CaF2 from the nanocoated particles during cutting and the formation of a uniform and continuous lubricating film on the surface of the tool. The wear on the front surface of the ATS tool was mainly adhesive, and that on the back tool surface was mainly abrasive. For ATSC10, the main forms of wear on the tool front surface were adhesive and abrasive, whereas the main form of wear on the tool back surface was abrasive with slight adhesive wear. The addition of nano-coated particles and whiskers improved the mechanical properties of the cutting tool while maintaining good cutting performance.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a neurodegenerative disorder, is a major health concern in the increasingly aged population worldwide. Currently, no clinically effective drug can halt the progression of AD. Panax ginseng C.A. Mey. is a well-known medicinal plant that contains ginsenosides, gintonin, and other components and has neuroprotective effects against a series of pathological cascades in AD, including beta-amyloid formation, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction. In this review, we summarize the effects and mechanisms of these major components and formulas containing P. ginseng in neuronal cells and animal models. Moreover, clinical findings regarding the prevention and treatment of AD with P. ginseng or its formulas are discussed. This review can provide new insights into the possible use of ginseng in the prevention and treatment of AD.

Panax spp. (Araliaceae family) are widely used medicinal plants and they mainly include Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer, Panax quinquefolium L. (American ginseng), and Panax notoginseng (notoginseng). Polysaccharides are the main active ingredients in these plants and have demonstrated diverse pharmacological functions, but comparisons of isolation methods, structural features, and bioactivities of these polysaccharides have not yet been reported. This review summarizes recent advances associated with 112 polysaccharides from ginseng, 25 polysaccharides from American ginseng, and 36 polysaccharides from notoginseng and it compares the differences in extraction, purification, structural features, and bioactivities. Most studies focus on ginseng polysaccharides and comparisons are typically made with the polysaccharides from American ginseng and notoginseng. For the extraction, purification, and structural analysis, the processes are similar for the polysaccharides from the three Panax species. Previous studies determined that 55 polysaccharides from ginseng, 18 polysaccharides from American ginseng, and 9 polysaccharides from notoginseng exhibited anti-tumor activity, immunoregulatory effects, anti-oxidant activity, and other pharmacological functions, which are mediated by multiple signaling pathways, including mitogen-activated protein kinase, nuclear factor kappa B, or redox balance pathways. This review can provide new insights into the similarities and differences among the polysaccharides from the three Panax species, which can facilitate and guide further studies to explore the medicinal properties of the Araliaceae family used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Cutting heat conduction undergoes three stages that include intensity transient-state, transient-state, and steady-states. Especially during machining with coated cutting tools, in the conduction process, cutting heat needs to pass through a few micron thick coatings and then flow into the tool body. This heat conduction presents typical non-Fourier heat conduction characteristics. This paper focuses on the cutting temperature in transient heat conduction with a coated tool. A new analytical model to characterize the thermal shock based on the non-Fourier heat conduction was proposed. The distribution of cutting temperature in mono-layer coated tools during the machining was then illustrated. The cutting temperature distribution predicted by the Fourier heat conduction model was employed to compare with that by non-Fourier heat conduction in order to reveal the non-Fourier heat conduction effect in transient heat conduction. The results show that the transient heat conduction analytical model is more suitable for the intensity transient-state and transient-state in the process of cutting heat conduction.

In order to develop a new ceramic tool material with self-repairing capability, Al2O3/TiC/TiB2 ceramic tool material was prepared by vacuum hot-pressure sintering method. The toughening and strengthening mechanism of TiB2 on Al2O3/TiC substrate was analyzed. The results show that the ceramic tool material has good comprehensive mechanical properties when the TiB2 content is 10 vol.%. Its flexural strength was 701.32 MPa, hardness was 18.3 GPa, and fracture toughness was 6.2 MPa·m1/2, which were improved by 11.6%, 2.2% and 16.1% respectively, compared with the Al2O3/TiC tool material. Fracture surfaces of the Al2O3/TiC/TiB2 ceramic tool material were characterized by SEM, EDS and XRD. The results showed that the fracture mode was a mixture of transgranular fracture and intergranular fracture. The growth of Al2O3 and TiC grains can be effectively inhibited by adding appropriate amount of TiB2, and the internal grains of the material can be refined. The TiB2 has a uniform distribution in the matrix and acts as a diffusion toughening agent. The cutting performance of Al2O3/TiC/10 vol.%TiB2 tool material was further investigated. Experiments conducted on tools made of Al2O3/TiC and Al2O3/TiC/TiB2 materials showed that the main forms of wear for both tools were abrasive wear and bonded wear. The friction coefficient of Al2O3/TiC/TiB2 tools was reduced by 10.77% compared to Al2O3/TiC tools.

In this paper, the Voronoimosaic model and the cohesive element method were used to simulate crack propagation in the microstructure of alumina/graphene composite ceramic tool materials. The effects of graphene characteristic size and volume content on the crack propagation behavior of microstructure model of alumina/graphene composite ceramics under different interfacial bonding strength were studied. When the phase interface is weak, the average energy release rate is the highest as the short diameter of graphene is 10–50 nm and the long diameter is 1600–2000 nm. When the phase interface is strong, the average energy release rate is the highest as the short diameter of graphene is 50–100 nm and the long diameter is 800–1200 nm. When the volume content of graphene is 0.50 vol.%, the average energy release rate reaches the maximum. When the velocity load is 0.005 m s−1, the simulation result is convergent. It is proven that the simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental phenomena.

This study aimed at improving the cutting performance of a ceramic tool to which were added solid lubricant particles. We prepared the self-lubricating ceramic tool by adding CaF2@Al2O3 instead of CaF2, and the self-lubricating ceramic tool with Al2O3 as matrix phase, Ti(C,N) as reinforcement phase. The properties of the ceramic tool with different contents of CaF2@Al2O3 and CaF2 were studied by turning 40Cr. Compared with the ceramic tool with 10 vol.% CaF2, the main cutting force and the cutting temperature of the ceramic tool with 10 vol.% CaF2@Al2O3 decreased by 67.25% and 38.14% respectively. The wear resistance and machining surface quality of the ceramic tool with CaF2@Al2O3 were better than the ceramic tool to which were directly added CaF2. The optimal content of CaF2@Al2O3 particles was determined to be 10 vol.%. The addition of CaF2@Al2O3 particles effectively reduces the adverse effect of direct addition of CaF2 particles on the ceramic tool, and plays a role in improving the cutting performance of the ceramic tool.

The Al2O3/Ti(C,N) ceramic material added micron ZrO2 whisker and nano coated CaF2@Al(OH)3 powder was fabricated. The micron ZrO2 whisker was for the toughening and reinforcing phase and the nano coated CaF2@Al(OH)3 powder was the lubricant. For obtaining a ceramic material with optimal comprehensive mechanical properties and friction properties, the influences of different compositions of the ZrO2 whisker and nano coated CaF2@Al(OH)3 powder on the microstructure and mechanical properties were analyzed, respectively. The result demonstrated that as the addition of the ZrO2 whisker was 6 vol% and the addition of the nano coated CaF2@Al(OH)3 powder was 10 vol%, the optimal self-lubricating ceramic material had optimal mechanical properties. The hardness of the ceramic material was 16.72 GPa, the flexural strength was 520 MPa and the fracture toughness reached 7.16 MPa·m1/2. The formation of the intragranular structure, whisker toughening and the phase transition of ZrO2 were the main mechanisms.

Aiming at the contradiction between the lubricating performance and mechanical performance of self-lubricating ceramic tools. CaF2@Al(OH)3 particles were prepared by the heterogeneous nucleation method. An Al2O3/Ti(C,N) ceramic tool with CaF2@Al2(OH)3 particles and ZrO2 whiskers was prepared by hot press sintering (frittage). The cutting performances and wear mechanisms of this ceramic tool were investigated. Compared with the Al2O3/Ti(C,N) ceramic tool, the Al2O3/Ti(C,N)/ZrO2/CaF2@Al(OH)3 ceramic tool had lower cutting temperatures and surface roughness. When the cutting speed was increased from 100m/min to 300m/min, a lot of CaF2 was smeared onto the surface of the ceramic tool, and the flank wear of the Al2O3/Ti(C,N)/ZrO2/CaF2@Al(OH)3 ceramic tool was reduced. The main wear mechanisms of the Al2O3/Ti(C,N)/ZrO2/CaF2@Al(OH)3 ceramic tool were adhesive wear and micro-chipping. The formation of solid lubricating film and the improvement of fracture toughness by adding ZrO2 whiskers and CaF2@Al(OH)3 were important factors for the Al2O3/Ti(C,N)/ZrO2/CaF2@Al(OH)3 ceramic tool to have better cutting performances.

In self-lubricating ceramic tools, adding CaF2 will significantly reduce the mechanical properties of ceramic tools. Based on heterogeneous nucleation theory, we have recently prepared aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH)3) coating on calcium fluoride (CaF2) through a liquid-phase heterogeneous nucleation method. By adding CaF2@Al(OH)3 coated powder to replace CaF2 powder, the self-lubricating ceramic tools maintain higher lubricity while also having better mechanical properties. The coating process was further confirmed by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition, we used the molecular simulation software to simulate the suspension system of CaF2, Al(NO3)3·9H2O, and Al(OH)3 to study the process of Al(OH)3 coating on the surface of CaF2 particle to form CaF2@Al(OH)3 powders with core-shell structure. Further, the formation and evolution of Al(OH)3 molecules on the surface of CaF2 were analyzed.

In order to reduce the influence of CaF2 addition on the mechanical properties of self-lubricating ceramic tools, we applied a silicon dioxide (SiO2) coating on calcium fluoride (CaF2) nanoparticles through hydrolysis and condensation reactions using the tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) method. The powder was dried by the azeotropic method, so that it acquired a better dispersibility. The resulting composite powders were characterized using XRD (X-ray diffraction) and TEM (transmission electron microscopy), showing that the surface of CaF2 was coated with a layer of uniform and compact SiO2. SiO2 shells with different thicknesses could be obtained by changing the amount of TEOS added, and the thickness of the SiO2 shells could be controlled between 1.5 and 15 nm. At the same time, a ceramic material containing CaF2 nanoparticles and CaF2@SiO2-coated nanoparticles was prepared. It had the best mechanical properties when CaF2@SiO2-coated nanoparticles were added; its flexural strength, fracture toughness, and hardness were 562 ± 28 MPa, 5.51 ± 0.26 MPa·m1/2, and 15.26 ± 0.16 GPa, respectively. Compared with the ceramic tool containing CaF2 nanoparticles, these mechanical properties were increased by 17.57%, 12.67%, and 4.88%, respectively. The addition of CaF2@SiO2-coated nanoparticles greatly improved the antifriction and wear resistance of the ceramic material, and the antifriction and wear resistance were balanced.

The lubrication performance of graphene used as additive in 4-n-pentyl-4′-cyanobiphyl liquid crystal (5CB) for steel/steel contacts was studied on a ball-on-plate tribotester. The friction test results show that when the graphene content in the 5CB was 0.15 wt.%, and the lubricant and friction pairs were heated to 44⁻46 °C before friction tests, the lubrication performance of the 5CB was most improved. Compared with pure 5CB, 5CB+0.15 wt.% graphene suspension reduced the friction coefficient and wear scar diameter by up to 70.6% and 41.3%, respectively. The lubrication mechanisms have been tentatively proposed according to the test results. We speculate that the excellent lubrication performance of graphene/5CB suspensions may be attributed to the low shear resistance adsorption layer formed by graphene and 5CB molecules on the sliding surfaces. As the protective layer, it not only prevents direct contact between the rough sliding surfaces but also is easy to slide.