Surface interactions and tribochemical processes in Ionic Liquid lubrication of aluminium-steel contacts

Room-temperature Ionic Liquids (ILs) are being studied as new lubricants in a variety of sliding contacts. One of their more interesting tribological applications is that of steel-aluminium lubrication. In this work we present the surface interaction mechanisms and tribocorrosion processes which have been found in the use of ILs formed by a 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium cation and a fluorine-containing anion as neat lubricants of 52100 steel-2011 aluminium pairs. The results obtained by electron microscopy (SEM), Energy Disperssive Spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) techniques are discussed as functions of Ionic Liquid (IL) composition and properties.