From plasma polymerization of nickel carbonyl with or without methane,
metallic nickel powder, metal-like nickel film, nickel-containing DLC
film and nickel-containing hydrocarbon polymer film were prepared. Th
e results for metal-like nickel and nickel-containing DLC films deposi
ted on monocrystalline silicon friction blocks suggest that the tribol
ogical properties of the films are related to the film composition, st
ructure and friction conditions. High nickel content DLC film displays
a stable friction coefficient of 0.12 with a small pulse of 0.01. In
the ball-on-disc wear test, the wear resistance of the film and the co
upler steel ball increased by factors of 74.6 and 316.7, respectively.
The improvement in tribological behavior results from the insertion o
f nickel into the film, which reduces the intrinsic brittleness and in
ternal stress of DLC firm, and plays the role of composite lubrication
with DLC. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.