Domínguez-Meister, SantiagoRojas, Teresa CristinaBrizuela, MartaSánchez-López, Juan Carlos2017-01-01Domínguez-Meister , S , Rojas , T C , Brizuela , M & Sánchez-López , J C 2017 , ' Solid lubricant behavior of MoS2 and WSe2-based nanocomposite coatings ' , Science and Technology of Advanced Materials , vol. 18 , no. 1 , pp. 122-133 . https://doi.org/10.1080/14686996.2016.12757841878-5514researchoutputwizard: 11556/384Publisher Copyright: © 2017 The Author(s). Published by National Institute for Materials Science in partnership with Taylor & Francis.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.124309339enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessjournal article10.1080/14686996.2016.1275784Functionally graded materialRaman spectroscopyAnalytical electron microscopyStructure-property relationshipFrictionFunctionally graded materialRaman spectroscopyAnalytical electron microscopyStructure-property relationshipFrictionGeneral Materials ScienceFunding InfoThe Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness [projects n° MAT2010-21597-C02-01, MAT2011-29074-C02-01; MAT2015-65539-P; MAT2015-69035-REDC], Junta de Andalucía [P10-TEP-67182] and Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) [201560E013] are acknowledged for their financial support.The Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness [projects n° MAT2010-21597-C02-01, MAT2011-29074-C02-01; MAT2015-65539-P; MAT2015-69035-REDC], Junta de Andalucía [P10-TEP-67182] and Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) [201560E013] are acknowledged for their financial support.http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85019082533&partnerID=8YFLogxK