1202.3234 (David Holec et al.)

First principles study for water-based self-assembled nanobearing in
CrN/TiN multilayer coatings    [PDF]

David Holec, Jörg Paulitsch, Paul H. Mayrhofer

Recently, we have reported on low friction CrN/TiN coatings deposited using a
hybrid sputtering technique. These multilayers exhibit friction coefficient
when tested in atmosphere with a relative humidity $\approx25%$, but $\mu$
ranges between $0.6-0.8$ upon decreasing the humidity below 5%. Here we use
first principle calculations to study O and H adatom energetics on TiN and CrN
(001) surfaces. The diffusional barrier of H on TiN(001) is about half of the
value on CrN(001) surface, while both elements are stronger bonded on CrN. We
thus propose a possible mechanism for a water-based self-assembled nanobearing.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1202.3234