Tribological Anti-Wear and Extreme-Pressure Performance of Multifunctional Metal and Nonmetal Doped C-based Nanodots

Abstract

Carbon nanodots (CDs) are extensively explored due to their little toxicity, excellent water solubility, and biocompatibility. Particularly, fluorescent CDs have received ever-increasing attention. Nevertheless, up to now, only a few findings have been dedicated to measuring the tribological properties of doped CDs, especially Ga doped CDs (Ga@CDs and nitrogen doped CDs (N@CDs)), and to compare their tribological properties with CDs. Here, we describe a strategy for the low-cost one-pot synthesis of CDs for tribological study. The presented research for the first time describes tribological properties and indicates a possible application of the multifunctional CDs (N@CDs, Ga@CDs, and CDs) as highly specific materials for various tests of engine oils and hydraulic oils. Further, it is stated that the doping of the CDs with various elements can tailor demanding tribological performances like anti-wear and extreme-pressure performances.