TY - Journal Article AU - Domínguez-Meister, Santiago AU - Rojas, Teresa Cristina AU - Brizuela, Marta AU - Sánchez-López, Juan Carlos TI - Solid lubricant behavior of MoS2 and WSe2-based nanocomposite coatings PY - 2017 PB - TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2-4 PARK SQUARE, MILTON PARK, ABINGDON OR14 4RN, OXON, ENGLAND AB - Tribological coatings made of MoS2 and WSe2 phases and their corresponding combinations with tungsten carbide (WC) were prepared by non-reactive magnetron sputtering of individual targets of similar composition. A comparative tribological analysis of these multiphase coatings was done in both ambient air (30–40% relative humidity, RH) and dry nitrogen (RH<7%) environments using the same tribometer and testing conditions. A nanostructural study using advanced transmission electron microscopy of the initial coatings and examination of the counterfaces after the friction test using different analytical tools helped to elucidate what governs the tribological behavior for each type of environment. This allowed conclusions to be made about the influence of the coating microstructure and composition on the tribological response. The best performance obtained with a WSex film (specific wear rate of 2 × 10−8 mm3 N–1m–1 and a friction coefficient of 0.03–0.05) was compared with that of the well-established MoS2 lubricant material. SN - 1468-6996 UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11556/384 DX - 10.1080/14686996.2016.1275784 ER -