Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

CERAMICS
INTERNATIONAL

Ceramics International 42 (2016) 45784585

www.elsevier.com/locate/ceramint

Frictional properties of Ti3AlC2 ceramic against different counterparts

in deionized water and articial seawater
Shuai Wanga,b, Jun Chenga, Shengyu Zhua, Zhuhui Qiaoa, Jun Yanga,n, Weimin Liua
a

State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, PR China
b
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, PR China
Received 16 November 2015; received in revised form 26 November 2015; accepted 26 November 2015
Available online 2 December 2015

Abstract
In this study, the tribological behavior of Ti3AlC2 in both deionized water and articial seawater was investigated. The tribological
mechanisms of different tribopairs in the two aqueous environments were discussed in detail. When sliding against AISI 316L stainless steel,
Al2O3 and Si3N4 in the two environments, Ti3AlC2 displayed poor tribological properties, and the mainly wear mechanisms were mechanical
wear by counterparts. The tribo-chemical products mainly consisted of TiO2 and Al2O3 in both the liquids. However, the Ti3AlC2/SiC tribopair
could provide excellent lubrication in both deionized water and articial seawater. A smooth tribolm was formed on the Ti3AlC2 worn surface,
where the tribolm was the mixture of TiO2, Al2O3 and SiOx. The tribolm was believed to be responsible for the excellent lubricating effect. In
light of these results, the Ti3AlC2/SiC tribopair held promise to serve in marine tribological applications.
& 2015 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.

Keywords: C. Friction; E. Wear parts; Ti3AlC2 ceramic

1. Introduction
Ti3AlC2 and Ti3SiC2 ceramic are two representative ternary
layered carbide belonging to MAX phases, where M is a
class of early transition metal, A is a IIIA or IVA group
element and X is carbon or nitrogen [1]. Like most MAX
phases, they also have a unique combination of properties of
metallic and ceramic, such as good electrical conductivity,
high elastic modulus, superb damage tolerance, better thermal
shock resistance, notable machinability and unusual oxidation
resistance [2]. More importantly, compared with most other
MAX phases, the raw materials to synthesize the two ceramic
are low-cost and the synthesis technology is economically
viable. Therefore, the two MAX phases have been widely
studying since it was discovered [38].
The tribological behavior of MAX phase also has been
investigated intensively since it was discovered [9]. However,
n

Corresponding author. Tel.: 86 931 4968193; fax: 86 931 8277088.

E-mail addresses: jyang@lzb.ac.cn, jyang@licp.cas.cn (J. Yang).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2015.11.153
0272-8842/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.

for Ti3AlC2 ceramic, it showed high wear rate when sliding

against most counterparts under dry-sliding condition at
ambient because of its lower hardness [10]. It also has been
reported that Ti3AlC2 showed better lubricating properties
when sliding against specic counterparts, at high speeds or
under certain vacuum environment [1113]. At elevated
temperature, the Ti3AlC2 ceramic displayed good wear resistance due to the tribo-oxidation lm formed on the surface of
Ti3AlC2 ceramic [14]. In addition, it has been established that
Ti3SiC2, an isostructural compound of Ti3AlC2, provided low
friction and wear when coupling with suitable counterpart
under micro-friction conditions [15,16]. It was also reported
that Ti3SiC2 showed quite low friction coefcient and superior
wear resistance when sliding against Si3N4 in H2SO4, HCl or
NaOH solution, as a result of the lubricating oxide layer
generated on the worn surface by chemically corrosive
oxidation reaction [17,18].
To the best of our knowledge, the vast majority of works on
Ti3AlC2 were focused on mechanical properties and high
temperature applications, and there were no descriptions about

S. Wang et al. / Ceramics International 42 (2016) 45784585

tribological behavior of Ti3AlC2 in seawater or in other liquids

to date. Hence, for more practical application, to evaluate
whether Ti3AlC2 holds promise for lubricating applications in
seawater environment or not, it is imperative to study the
tribological behavior of Ti3AlC2 in seawater environment.
This paper rst studied the frictional properties of Ti3AlC2
against four different counterparts in deionized water and
articial seawater. It was found that the Ti3AlC2 ceramic
cannot combat friction and wear when sliding against AISI
316L stainless steel (316L), Al2O3 and Si3N4, in both
deionized water and articial seawater. Unexpectedly, the
Ti3AlC2/SiC tribopair can provide excellent lubricating effect
with low friction coefcient and negligible wear rate in
deionized water and articial seawater. On the basis of these
facts, the Ti3AlC2/SiC tribopair can be used as a candidate in
marine lubricating applications.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Materials preparation
The synthesis procedures of Ti3AlC2 were described elsewhere
in detail [3]. Briey, the starting materials were chosen as
commercially available powders of Ti (99.2% purity,o45 m),
Al (99.5% purity, o75 m) and graphite (99.5% purity,
o40 m). With a molar composition of 3Ti:1.1Al:1.8C, the three
powders were mixed for 10 h in WC jars at a rotation rate of
300 rpm by a high energy planetary ball mill (Fritsch Pulverisette
5, Germany), in which WC balls were used as mixing balls. Then,
the mixed powders were poured into a BN-sprayed graphite mold
with a diameter of 30 mm and subsequently, the mold was precompacted under a pressure of 10 MPa at ambient. Ultimately, to
synthesize Ti3AlC2 ceramic, the mold was hot-pressed at 1400 1C
under a pressure of 40 MPa for 2 h in argon atmosphere.
For friction and wear tests, the prepared samples were cut
into disks with a diameter of 25 mm and a thickness of 4 mm.
Then, all the disks surfaces were polished to about 1 m
roughness. The articial seawater was prepared according to
the standard ASTM D 1141-98 (2013). The pH after adjustment with 0.1 mol/L NaOH solution was 8.2. The chemical
constituents of seawater were given in Table 1.
2.2. Friction and wear tests
In this study, all the friction and wear tests were conducted
on a CFT-1 reciprocating frictional tester (Zhong Ke Kai Hua
Corporation, China) in both deionized water and articial
seawater. For comparison, the 316L (4 mm in diameter), Al2O3
(6.35 mm in diameter), Si3N4 (6.35 mm in diameter) and SiC
(6.35 mm in diameter) balls were chosen to slide against

4579

Ti3AlC2 ceramic. The reciprocating frequency was set as 5 Hz

(about 0.05 m/s) and the sliding stroke was 5 mm. The normal
load was 20 N corresponding to a stress of 1.018 MPa. All the
tests were carried out for 30 min and repeated at least three
times. The friction coefcient was recorded by computer
automatically. In this paper, the friction coefcient meant the
average value during steady stage under different conditions.
Moreover, the wear rate was calculated from the wear volume
divided by the sliding distance and the normal load, where the
wear volume was measured by a Micro-XAM-3D surface
proler.
2.3. Analysis and characterization
The phase compositions of prepared Ti3AlC2 ceramic were
veried by X-ray diffractometer (XRD, D/max-2400 Rigaku,
Japan) using Cu Ka radiation with a scan speed of 81/min from
51 to 801. It was shown from Fig. 1 that the prepared Ti3AlC2
ceramic consisted of dominant Ti3AlC2 phase and no other
impure phases were detected. Consequently, it was conrmed
that high purity Ti3AlC2 ceramic was synthesized successfully.
The frictional surfaces of Ti3AlC2 and the counterparts were
observed by a JSM-5600LV scanning electron microscope
(SEM, Japan). Energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) was
employed to examine the elements on the Ti3AlC2 worn
surfaces. Besides, the chemical states of elements on the
frictional surfaces of Ti3AlC2 were characterized by a PHI5702 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, America),
where an Al K radiation was used as the excitation source.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Friction coefcient and wear rate
Fig. 2a and b depict the friction coefcient and wear rate of
Ti3AlC2 against different counterparts in deionized water and
articial seawater, respectively. It is shown in Fig. 2 that the
friction coefcient and wear rate in deionized water and articial
seawater are quite similar, when sliding against the same counterpart. When sliding against Al2O3 and Si3N4, the Ti3AlC2 ceramic
exhibits higher friction coefcient (0.520.60) and wear rate
(2.88  10-4 mm3 N  1 m  15.53  10  4 mm3 N  1 m  1). When
Ti3AlC2 ceramic couples with 316L, the friction coefcient is still
high while the wear rate is as low as 9.89  10  5 mm3 N  1 m  1.
However, in both deionized water and articial seawater, the
Ti3AlC2/SiC tribopair provides excellent lubrication, with a low
friction coefcient of 0.15 and a negligible wear rate of
1.56  10  6 mm3 N  1 m  1. However, under the dry-sliding
condition, it was established that Ti3AlC2 demonstrated high
friction coefcient (41.2) and wear rate (10  3 mm3 N  1 m  1),

Table 1
Chemical constituents of the articial seawater.
Compound

NaCl

Na2SO4

MgCl2

CaCl2

SrCl2

KCl

NaHCO3

KBr

H3BO3

Concentration (g/l)

24.53

4.09

5.20

1.16

0.03

0.70

0.20

0.10

0.03

4580

S. Wang et al. / Ceramics International 42 (2016) 45784585

Fig. 1. The XRD pattern of the prepared Ti3AlC2 ceramic.

Fig. 2. (a) The friciton coefcient and (b) wear rate of Ti3AlC2 against
different counterparts in deionized water and articial seawater.

when coupling with Al2O3 and Si3N4 with a load of 10 N and a

linear velocity of 0.06 m/s. For Ti3AlC2/SiC tribopair, the friction
coefcient and wear rate of Ti3AlC2 are as high as 0.4 and
4.2  10  4 mm3 N  1 m  1, respectively [10]. Therefore, it can be
seen that the aqueous environment contributes to descending the
friction coefcient and wear rate of Ti3AlC2 in comparison with
the dry-sliding condition.

3.2. SEM characterization of worn surfaces

Fig. 3 illustrates the Ti3AlC2 worn morphologies after
sliding against different counterparts in deionized water and

articial seawater. The comparisons of Ti3AlC2 worn surfaces

reveal that the Ti3AlC2 ceramic displays similar tribological
behavior in both deionized water and articial seawater when
coupling with the same counterpart. When coupling with
316L, Al2O3 or Si3N4, it can be seen from Fig. 3 that the
Ti3AlC2 ceramic is ground and torn up severely, in both
deionized water and articial seawater. Under the dry-sliding
condition, the dominant mechanical, adhesive and abrasive
wear resulted in the harsh tribological behavior [10]. Nevertheless, in deionized water or articial seawater environment,
the liquid can play a cooling role to release friction heat.
Besides, large wear debris forms and diffuses into the seawater
rapidly during the sliding, weakening the inuence of adhesive
and abrasive wear. Hence, the mechanical wear is believed to
account for the high wear rate and moderate friction coefcient
for the three tribopairs.
For Ti3AlC2/SiC tribopair, after sliding against SiC in
deionized water and articial seawater, a smooth tribolm
covers on the Ti3AlC2 worn surface, which can be ascribed to
the tribo-chemical reaction among Ti3AlC2, SiC and water.
Obviously, it can be seen from Fig. 3g and h that the tribolm
could prevent Ti3AlC2 matrix from being scratched by SiC,
reducing the wear of Ti3AlC2. Furthermore, the aqueous
environment could provide lubrication during the sliding.
Thus, based on the two factors, the Ti3AlC2/SiC tribopair
could provide low friction coefcient and wear rate. Besides,
because of fatigue wear or mechanical scratch, some peelings
can be observed as well, as shown in Fig. 3g and h.
Table 2 lists the average chemical constituent of different
areas in Fig. 3, which are marked by red capital letters. All of
the worn surfaces are mainly composed of Ti, Al and O in both
deionized water and articial seawater, indicating that the worn
surfaces most probably consist of titanium oxide and aluminum oxide. After sliding in articial seawater, only little
residual elements from seawater can be detected on the worn
surface. When coupling with 316L, Al2O3 and Si3N4, it can be
found that the O content in grinding areas is much higher than
that in torn-up areas. Besides, after sliding against 316L in the
two aqueous environments, the Fe element from 316L can be
also detected and the Fe content in grinding area is much
higher as well. That revealed that the tribo-chemical reaction in
grinding areas happened more severely than that in torn-up
areas. For Ti3AlC2/SiC tribopair, the Si element from SiC is
only detected on the tribolm and the O content on the
tribolm is higher as well. Consequently, it can be conrmed
that the tribolm could prevent SiC from damaging the
Ti3AlC2 matrix, which is agreement with the previous
argument.
Fig. 4 shows the wear scars of different counterparts after
sliding against Ti3AlC2 in articial seawater. In both deionized
water and articial seawater environments, the worn morphologies of the same counterpart are quite similar. As shown in
Fig. 4a, when Ti3AlC2 slides against 316L, the 316L surface is
severely worn and plastically damaged with a width of about
2 mm. However, for Al2O3, no obvious wear scar can be
observed on the surfaces of Al2O3, and instead, some patches
from the Ti3AlC2 worn surface can be found, as can be seen in

S. Wang et al. / Ceramics International 42 (2016) 45784585

4581

Fig. 3. SEM images of the Ti3AlC2 worn morphologies after sliding against (a) 316L in deionized water, (b) 316L in articial seawater, (c) Al2O3 in deionized
water, (d) Al2O3 in articial seawater, (e) Si3N4 in deionized water, (f) Si3N4 in articial seawater, (g) SiC in deionized seawater and (h) SiC in articial seawater.

Fig. 4b. The Si3N4 worn surface is slightly scratched, which is

ground by the coarse Ti3AlC2 surface, as illustrated in Fig. 4c.
When coupled with SiC, some shallow furrows with a total
width of around 470 m can be found on the SiC worn surface
(Fig. 4d) and the salient areas could peel down the tribolm,
resulting in the peelings in Fig. 3d.

3.3. XPS analysis of Ti3AlC2 worn surfaces

Fig. 5 displays XPS spectrums of Ti 2p on the Ti3AlC2 worn
surfaces after sliding in deionized water and articial seawater.
It was established that, for various titanium dioxide contents,
the binding energies of Ti 2p were in agreement with the

4582

S. Wang et al. / Ceramics International 42 (2016) 45784585

Table 2
Average chemical constituents of the areas marked by red capital letters in Fig. 3.
Counterpart

Medium

Area

Average chemical constituent

316L

Deionized water

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P

Ti27.75Al11.97Fe5.02O38.64C16.60
Ti28.75Al11.97Fe1.91O31.80C25.56
Ti11.31Al3.87Fe5.44O67.23Na0.30Ca0.23S0.29Cl0.11C11.20
Ti19.09Al7.86Fe2.60O54.43Na0.21Ca0.14Cl0.05C15.60
Ti30.84Al15.67O25.79C27.70
Ti31.40Al16.21O12.31C40.08
Ti31.84Al12.88O34.01Na0.27Mg0.13Ca0.08Cl0.10C20.69
Ti36.73Al14.56O19.86Na0.22Mg0.10S0.12Cl0.08C28.33
Ti31.70Al15.01O36.65C16.64
Ti36.14Al15.11O19.87C28.88
Ti27.77Al12.87O46.23Na0.61Mg0.12Ca0.06S0.04C11.20
Ti31.26Al13.16O30.34Na0.14Mg0.10Ca0.06Cl0.04C24.90
Ti29.37Al9.47O41.83Si0.30C19.03
Ti45.03Al13.35O10.62C31.00
Ti32.42Al9.14O43.26Si0.27Na0.66S0.31Cl0.12C13.82
Ti41.33Al16.95O14.02C27.70

Articial seawater
Al2O3

Deionized water
Articial seawater

Si3N4

Deionized water
Articial seawater

SiC

Deionized water
Articial seawater

Fig. 4. SEM images of the worn surfaces of (a) 316L, (b) Al2O3, (c) Si3N4 and (d) SiC counterfaces in articial seawater.

binding energy of Ti2p3/2 varying from 458.0 eV to 459.0 eV

[19]. Here, in both deionized water and articial seawater
environments, it can be conrmed from Fig. 5a and b that TiO2
generated during the sliding when Ti3AlC2 coupled with the
four counterparts. However, in articial seawater, the binding
energies of Ti2p3/2 in TiO2 were shifted from 458.1 eV to
459.0 eV, as shown in Fig. 5b. Accordingly, it can be
speculated that the binding energy of Ti2p in TiO2 could be
shifted on account of the incorporation of ion or salts in
articial seawater. Additionally, the peak of Ti2p in Ti3AlC2
can be detected as well [20], which is in accordance with the
torn or peeling areas in Fig. 3.

The XPS spectrums of Al 2p on Ti3AlC2 worn surfaces after

sliding against different counterparts in the two liquids are
depicted in Fig. 6. It can be seen that the main peaks of Al 2p
are around 74.0 eV in Fig. 6a and b. Here, the binding energies
of Al 2p are most probably associated with AlO bonds in
Al2O3 [21]. It was conrmed that the Al in in the Ti3AlC2
structure was highly mobile and could easily diffuse to react
with oxygen to form Al2O3 [22,23]. Here, during the sliding in
both deionized water and articial seawater environments, the
formation of Al2O3 can be attributed to the tribo-chemical
reaction between Ti3AlC2 and counterparts, where the oxygen
is provided by H2O or O2 in water. Besides, the peaks of Al2p

S. Wang et al. / Ceramics International 42 (2016) 45784585

4583

Fig. 5. XPS spectrums of Ti 2p on Ti3AlC2 worn surface after sliding against

different counterparts in (a) deionized water and (b) articial seawater.

Fig. 6. XPS spectrums of Al 2p on Ti3AlC2 worn surface after sliding against

different counterparts in (a) deionized water and (b) articial seawater.

in Ti3AlC2 can be also detected [20], which is in accordance

with the XPS spectrums of Ti 2p. The Fe and Si element are
also examined on the Ti3AlC2 worn surface after sliding
against 316L and SiC, respectively. As illustrated in Fig. 7a,
Fe3O4 can be identied by binding energies at 710.6 eV and
724.1 eV [24]. The binding energy at 101.9 eV in Fig. 7b can
be assigned to SiOx [10].
On the basis of the XPS analysis, it can be concluded that all
of the worn surfaces are mainly composed of titanium oxides
and aluminum oxides, which were produced by tribo-chemical
reaction during frictional tests. Besides, element from counterparts can be detected as well, when Ti3AlC2 coupled with
316L and SiC. In the following, the tribological behaviors of
the four different tribopairs in deionized water and articial
seawater are discussed separately.
Ti3AlC2/316L: The Vickers hardness of 316L is slightly
lower than Ti3AlC2. Thus, the two materials can be ground
reciprocally and large three-body wear debris generated. But
subsequently, the wear debris can be dispersed into the
seawater during the sliding. Consequently, the two-body wear
mechanism is mainly responsible for the moderate wear of
Ti3AlC2 and 316L in both deionized and articial seawater.
Both Ti3AlC2 and 316L surfaces become coarse gradually
during the frictional tests, accounting for the high friction
coefcient herein. In the deionized water and articial seawater

environments, the tribo-chemical reaction takes place on the

interface of the tribopair in company with severe wear. The
tribo-chemical products mainly consist of TiO2, Al2O3 and
Fe3O4.
Ti3AlC2/Al2O3 and Ti3AlC2/Si3N4: The two tribopairs
exhibit similar tribological behavior in the two aqueous
environments. In spite of the layered crystal structure of
Ti3AlC2, it cannot be sheared easily to support low friction
and to prevent wear damage between the sliding surfaces.
When relatively soft Ti3AlC2 matrix slides against hard Al2O3
or Si3N4, the Ti3AlC2 matrix is aggressively ground and torn
up. On the other hand, scratch hardly emerges on the surface of
Al2O3 and there is slight wear on the Si3N4 surface. The large
wear debris from Ti3AlC2 could be dispersed into the liquids
as well, weakening the three-body abrasive wear. Therefore,
two-body wear gives rise to the high wear rate, when Ti3AlC2
slides with Al2O3 or Si3N4. The two tribopairs have similar
tribo-chemical products TiO2 and Al2O3.
Ti3AlC2/SiC: Unexpectedly, in this study, Ti3AlC2/SiC
tribopair can provide excellent lubrication, where the wear
rate is almost negligible and the friction coefcient is quite
low, in the two aqueous environments. As shown in Fig. 8, in
both deionized water and articial seawater, the friction
coefcient is quite stable during the entire frictional tests and
the worn scars are quite small. During the sliding, a layer of

4584

S. Wang et al. / Ceramics International 42 (2016) 45784585

4. Conclusions
In this work, the tribological behavior of Ti3AlC2 against
316L, Al2O3, Si3N4 and SiC in deionized water and articial
seawater were investigated. The relevant conclusions can be
drawn as following:
1. When sliding against 316L, Al2O3 and SiN4 in both
deionized water and articial seawater, the Ti3AlC2 ceramic
exhibits poor tribological behavior. The high friction coefcient
and wear rate are attributable to two-body mechanical wear.
2. The Ti3AlC2/SiC tribopair exhibits excellent lubricating
effect in deionized water and articial seawater. The tribolm,
which is generated by tribo-chemical reaction, is conceived to
account for the low friction coefcient and negligible wear rate
in aqueous environment. Given that the excellent lubricating
effect, the Ti3AlC2/SiC tribopair can serve as promising
candidate in marine tribological applications.
Acknowledgments
This work was nancially supported by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (51275507 and 51302271) and the
National Basic Research Program of China (2013CB632300).
References

Fig. 7. XPS spectrums of (a) Fe 2p and (b) Si 2p in Ti3AlC2 worn surface after
sliding against 316L and SiC in deionized and articial seawater.

Fig. 8. The curves of friction coefcient versus sliding time of Ti3AlC2/SiC

tibopair, and inserts show the 3D morphology of Ti3AlC2 after sliding against
SiC in deionized water and seawater.

smooth tribolm formed on the Ti3AlC2 worn surface, which

has a mixed tribo-chemical product of TiO2, Al2O3 and SiOx.
Plausibly, the oxide-based tribolm, which is caused by the
tribo-chemical reaction, could segregate the pairs and endure
the shear wear damage during the sliding. As a result, the
tribolm is convinced to account for the low friction coefcient and wear rate. Nevertheless, the reason why the tribolm
formed only for the Ti3AlC2/SiC tribopair is still unclear and
more systematical work is needed.

[1] P. Eklund, M. Beckers, U. Jansson, H. Hogberg, L. Hultman, The

Mn 1AXn phases: materials science and thin-lm processing, Thin Solid
Films 518 (2010) 18511878.
[2] Z.M. Sun, Progress in research and development on MAX phases: a
family of layered ternary compounds, Int. Mater. Rev. 56 (2011)
143166.
[3] N.V. Tzenov, M.W. Barsoum, Synthesis and characterization of Ti3AlC2,
J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 83 (2004) 825832.
[4] Y. Zou, Z.M. Sun, S. Tada, H. Hashimoto, Synthesis reactions for
Ti3AlC2 through pulse discharge sintering Ti/Al4C3/TiC powder mixture,
Scr. Mater. 55 (2006) 767770.
[5] K.R. Whittle, M.G. Blackford, R.D. Aughterson, S. Moricca, G.
R. Lumpkin, D.P. Riley, N.J. Zaluzec, Radiation tolerance of Mn 1AXn
phases, Ti3AlC2 and Ti3SiC2, Acta Mater. 58 (2010) 43624368.
[6] M. Naguib, M. Kurtoglu, V. Presser, J. Lu, J. Niu, M. Heon, L. Hultman,
Y. Gogotsi, M.W. Barsoum, Two-dimensional nanocrystals produced by
exfoliation of Ti3AlC2, Adv. Mater. 23 (2011) 42484253.
[7] H.Y. Sun, X. Kong, Z.Z. Yi, Q.B. Wang, G.Y. Liu, The difference of
synthesis mechanism between Ti3SiC2 and Ti3AlC2 prepared from Ti/M/
C (M Al or Si) elemental powders by SHS technique, Ceram. Int. 40
(2014) 1297712981.
[8] Z.Y. Huang, H. Xu, H.X. Zhai, Y.Z. Wang, Y. Zhou, Strengthening and
tribological surface self-adaptability of Ti3AlC2 by incorporation of Sn to
form Ti3Al(Sn)C2 solid solutions, Ceram. Int. 41 (2015) 37013709.
[9] S. Gupta, M.W. Barsoum, On the tribology of the MAX phases and their
composites during dry sliding: a review, Wear 271 (2011) 18781894.
[10] J.Q. Ma, F. Li, L.C. Fu, S.Y. Zhu, Z.H. Qiao, J. Yang, W.M. Liu, Effect
of counterface on the tribological behavior of Ti3AlC2 at ambient, Tribol.
Lett. 53 (2014) 311317.
[11] Y. Zhang, G.P. Ding, Y.C. Zhou, B.C. Cai, Ti3SiC2 a self-lubricating
ceramic, Mater. Lett. 55 (2002) 285289.
[12] H.X. Zhai, Z.Y. Huang, M.X. Ai, Z. Yang, Z.L. Zhang, S.B. Li,
Tribophysical properties of polycrystalline bulk Ti3AlC2, J. Am. Ceram.
Soc. 88 (2005) 32703274.
[13] J.Q. Ma, J.Y. Hao, L.C. Fu, Z.H. Qiao, J. Yang, W.M. Liu, Q.L. Bi,
Intrinsic self-lubricity of layered Ti3AlC2 under certain vacuum environment, Wear 297 (2013) 824828.

S. Wang et al. / Ceramics International 42 (2016) 45784585

[14] S. Wang, J.Q. Ma, S.Y. Zhu, J. Cheng, Z.H. Qiao, J. Yang, W.M. Liu,
High temperature tribological properties of Ti3AlC2 ceramic against SiC
under different atmospheres, Mater. Des. 67 (2015) 188196.
[15] J. Emmerlich, G. Gassner, P. Eklund, H. Hogberg, L. Hultman, Micro
and macroscale tribological behavior of epitaxial Ti3SiC2 thin lms, Wear
264 (2008) 914919.
[16] M. Hopfeld, R. Grieseler, A. Vogel, H. Romanus, P. Schaaf, Tribological
behavior of selected Mn 1AXn phase thin lms on silicon substrates,
Surf. Coat. Technol. 257 (2014) 286294.
[17] S.F. Ren, J.H. Meng, J.B. Wang, J.J. Lu, S.R. Yang, Tribocorrosion
behavior of Ti3SiC2 in the dilute and concentrated sulfuric acid solutions,
Wear 269 (2010) 5059.
[18] S.F. Ren, J.H. Meng, J.B. Wang, J.J. Lu, S.R. Yang, Tribo-corrosion
behaviors of Ti3SiC2/Si3N4 tribo-pair in hydrochloric acid and sodium
hydroxide solutions, Wear 274 (2012) 814.
[19] R. Castillo, B. Koch, P. Ruiz, B. Delmon, Inuence of the amount of
titania on the texture and structure of titania supported on silica, J. Catal.
161 (1996) 524529.

4585

[20] S. Myhra, J.A.A. Crossley, M.W. Barsoum, Crystal-chemistry of the

Ti3AlC2 and Ti4AlN3 layered carbide/nitride phases-characterization by
XPS, J. Phys. Chem. Solids 62 (2001) 811817.
[21] B. Hu, M. Yao, R. Xiao, J. Chen, X. Yao, Optical properties of
amorphous Al2O3 thin lms prepared by a solgel process, Ceram. Int.
40 (2014) 1413314139.
[22] J. Frodelius, J. Lu, J. Jensen, D. Paul, L. Hultman, P. Eklund, Phase
stability and initial low-temperature oxidation mechanism of Ti2AlC thin
lms, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 33 (2013) 375382.
[23] D.J. Tallman, B. Anasori, M.W. Barsoum, A critical review of the
oxidation of Ti2AlC, Ti3AlC2 and Cr2AlC in air, Mater. Res. Lett. 1
(2013) 115125.
[24] T. Yamashita, P. Hayes, Analysis of XPS spectra of Fe2 and Fe3 ions
in oxide materials, Appl. Surf. Sci. 254 (2008) 24412449.