Fig. 3 | Nature Communications

Fig. 3

From: Evolution of tribo-induced interfacial nanostructures governing superlubricity in a-C:H and a-C:H:Si films

Fig. 3

Characterization of the contact area produced on bare SUJ2 steel ball surface. The corresponding superlubricity test paired with a-C:H (ACF-1) surface is shown in Supplementary Fig. 4. a BF-STEM image showing a carbonaceous tribolayer of ~ 27 nm thickness in situ generated on the steel ball surface. The tribolayer internally evolved into three individual sublayers (marked as b, c and d): a Fe-nanoparticle-dispersed sublayer near the sliding interface, a C-rich low density sublayer in the middle and a C-Fe-O heterogeneously well-crystalized sublayer near the steel ball surface. Scale bar, 10 nm. b–d BF-, HAADF-, false-color displayed BF-STEM and local FFT images of the three sublayers as marked in a. Scale bars in b–d are all 2 nm. e HAADF-STEM image showing the EELS spectrum-image (SI) mapping area as marked in a. The corresponding EELS C-K, O-K, Fe-L elemental maps and their composite are presented. Scale bar, 5 nm. f Evolution of C-K, O-K and Fe-L EELS core-edge spectra recorded across the tribolayer as marked in a

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