Fabrication and Assessment of Tribological Performance of Nickel-Graphene-MXene Hybrid Nano-composites

Notice

This is an unedited manuscript accepted for publication and provided as an Article in Press for early access at the author’s request. The article will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and galley proof review before final publication. Please be aware that errors may be identified during production that could affect the content. All legal disclaimers of the journal apply.

Year : 2025 | Volume : 13 | 06 | Page :
    By

    Shams Tabrez,

  • Sudesh Singh,

  • Vineet Kumar,

  • Kumresh Kumar Gaur,

  • Avinash Ravi Raja,

  1. , Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sharda School of Engineering and Science, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
  2. , Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sharda School of Engineering and Science, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
  3. , Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sharda School of Engineering and Science, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
  4. , Defence Research and Development Organization, Lucknow Road, Timarpur, Delhi, India
  5. , 3Department of Mechanical Engineering, PDPM Indian Institute of Information Technology Design & Manufacturing Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India

Abstract

As industries such as aerospace, automotive, defence, and electronics demand materials with superior wear resistance, high strength, and thermal stability, traditional metals are reaching their performance limits. Hybrid nanocomposites offer a pathway to meet these stringent requirements. In this study, novel Nickel-Graphene-MXene hybrid nanocomposites were fabricated using a powder metallurgy route, incorporating varying weight percentages (up to 2 wt.%) of MXene and 1 wt.% graphene nanosheets into a nickel matrix and evaluated for their tribological performance. Comprehensive characterization using FTIR, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and FESEM-EDS confirmed the uniform dispersion of reinforcements and successful phase integration. Tribological performance was assessed under dry sliding conditions against a Si3N4 ball at room temperature, with results showing a significant reduction in both the friction coefficient and specific wear rate upon the addition of graphene and MXene. The composite containing 2.0 wt.% MXene (NG1M2.0) exhibited the best performance, achieving a ~61% reduction in the friction coefficient and an ~85% decrease in wear rate compared to pure nickel. Enhanced performance was attributed to the formation of stable tribo- and transfer films, which minimized direct contact and wear. These findings highlight the promising potential of Nickel-Graphene-MXene composites for advanced applications requiring superior wear resistance and mechanical durability.

Keywords: Nickel, Graphene, MXene, Metal matrix composite, Wear.

aWQ6MjI5NTQ2fGZpbGVuYW1lOmM2YTMzNzEyLWZpLmF2aWZ8c2l6ZTp0aHVtYm5haWw=
How to cite this article:
Shams Tabrez, Sudesh Singh, Vineet Kumar, Kumresh Kumar Gaur, Avinash Ravi Raja. Fabrication and Assessment of Tribological Performance of Nickel-Graphene-MXene Hybrid Nano-composites. Journal of Polymer and Composites. 2025; 13(06):-.
How to cite this URL:
Shams Tabrez, Sudesh Singh, Vineet Kumar, Kumresh Kumar Gaur, Avinash Ravi Raja. Fabrication and Assessment of Tribological Performance of Nickel-Graphene-MXene Hybrid Nano-composites. Journal of Polymer and Composites. 2025; 13(06):-. Available from: https://journals.stmjournals.com/jopc/article=2025/view=229547


References

[1]      Khan F, Hossain N, Mim JJ, Rahman SM, Iqbal MJ, Billah M, et al. Advances of composite materials in automobile applications – A review. J Eng Res 2025;13:1001–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jer.2024.02.017.

[2]      Sharma M, Babu DV, Gour M, Anandhan A, Kumar S, K JGL. Design and Characterization of High-Performance Polymer Nanocomposites for Aerospace Applications. J Polym Compos 2025;13:178–93.

[3]      Nautiyal H, Singh S, Gautam RKS, Goswami RN, Khatri OP, Verma P, et al. The state of art on lubrication methods in space environment. Phys Scr 2024;99. https://doi.org/10.1088/1402-4896/ad1d3e.

[4]      Gautam RKS, Tripathi VM, Gautam JK, Singhania S, Singh S, Jha P, et al. Elevated temperature tribological assessment of Ni-based cermet self-lubricating coatings deposited by cold spray. Surf Coatings Technol 2024;477:130380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2024.130380.

[5]      John M, Menezes PL. Self-lubricating materials for extreme condition applications. Materials (Basel) 2021;14:5588. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14195588.

[6]      Holmberg K, Erdemir A. Influence of tribology on global energy consumption, costs and emissions. Friction 2017;5:263–84. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-017-0183-5.

[7]      Erdemir A, Ramirez G, Eryilmaz OL, Narayanan B, Liao Y, Kamath G, et al. Carbon-based tribofilms from lubricating oils. Nature 2016;536:67–71. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature18948.

[8]      Berman D, Deshmukh SA, Sankaranarayanan SKRS, Erdemir A, Sumant A V. Macroscale superlubricity enabled by graphene nanoscroll formation. Science (80- ) 2015;348:1118–22. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1262024.

[9]      Dwivedi N, Ott AK, Sasikumar K, Dou C, Yeo RJ, Narayanan B, et al. Graphene overcoats for ultra-high storage density magnetic media. Nat Commun 2021;12:1–13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22687-y.

[10]    Dwivedi N, Neogi A, Patra TK, Dhand C, Dutta T, Yeo RJ, et al. Angstrom-Scale Transparent Overcoats: Interfacial Nitrogen-Driven Atomic Intermingling Promotes Lubricity and Surface Protection of Ultrathin Carbon. Nano Lett 2021;21:8960–9. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c01997.

[11]    Bharti P, Sunkara SV, Vishwakarma J, Jaiswal S, Dhand C, Kumar R, et al. Simultaneous Control of Sliding Contact and Oxidation via Graphene-Based Materials. ACS Appl Eng Mater 2023;1:2062–74. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaenm.3c00222.

[12]    Lee C, Li Q, Kalb W, Liu XZ, Berger H, Carpick RW, et al. Frictional characteristics of atomically thin sheets. Science (80- ) 2010;328:76–80. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1184167.

[13]    Bharti P, Neogi A, Sharma R, Dhand C, Kumar R, Kumar P, et al. Decision trees within 1D/2D material systems for enabling highly lubricious and wear resistant surfaces. Carbon N Y 2024;217:118603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2023.118603.

[14]    Mukhtar F, Munawar T, Nadeem MS, ur Rehman MN, Mahmood K, Batool S, et al. Enhancement in carrier separation of ZnO-Ho2O3-Sm2O3 hetrostuctured nanocomposite with rGO and PANI supported direct dual Z-scheme for antimicrobial inactivation and sunlight driven photocatalysis. Adv Powder Technol 2021;32:3770–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apt.2021.08.022.

[15]    Munawar T, Mukhtar F, Nadeem MS, Mahmood K, Hasan M, Hussain A, et al. Novel direct dual-Z-scheme ZnO-Er2O3-Nd2O3@reduced graphene oxide heterostructured nanocomposite: Synthesis, characterization and superior antibacterial and photocatalytic activity. Mater Chem Phys 2020;253:123249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2020.123249.

[16]    Berman D, Erdemir A, Sumant A V. Graphene: A new emerging lubricant. Mater Today 2014;17:31–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2013.12.003.

[17]    Zeng X, Peng Y, Lang H. A novel approach to decrease friction of graphene. Carbon N Y 2017;118:233–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2017.03.042.

[18]    Patil SJ, Gawande GD, Khairnar Y, Sharma M, Patil MK. Graphene-Polymer Nanocomposites for Drug Delivery Applications. J Polym Compos 2025;13:362–74.

[19]    Rosenkranz A, Liu Y, Yang L, Chen L. 2D nano-materials beyond graphene: from synthesis to tribological studies. vol. 10. Springer International Publishing; 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-020-01466-z.

[20]    Berman D, Narayanan B, Cherukara MJ, Sankaranarayanan SKRS, Erdemir A, Zinovev A, et al. Operando tribochemical formation of onion-like-carbon leads to macroscale superlubricity. Nat Commun 2018;9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03549-6.

[21]    Berman D, Erdemir A, Sumant A V. Approaches for Achieving Superlubricity in Two-Dimensional Materials. ACS Nano 2018;12:2122–37. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.7b09046.

[22]    Naguib M, Kurtoglu M, Presser V, Lu J, Niu J, Heon M, et al. Two-dimensional nanocrystals produced by exfoliation of Ti 3AlC 2. Adv Mater 2011;23:4248–53. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201102306.

[23]    Naguib M, Mochalin VN, Barsoum MW, Gogotsi Y. 25th anniversary article: MXenes: A new family of two-dimensional materials. Adv Mater 2014;26:992–1005. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201304138.

[24]    Zhang H, Wang L, Chen Q, Li P, Zhou A, Cao X, et al. Preparation, mechanical and anti-friction performance of MXene/polymer composites. Mater Des 2016;92:682–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2015.12.084.

[25]    Zhou X, Guo Y, Wang D, Xu Q. Nano friction and adhesion properties on Ti3C2 and Nb2C MXene studied by AFM. Tribol Int 2021;153:106646. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2020.106646.

[26]    Huang S, Mochalin VN. Understanding Chemistry of Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Carbides and Carbonitrides (MXenes) with Gas Analysis. ACS Nano 2020;14:10251–7. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.0c03602.

[27]    Natu V, Hart JL, Sokol M, Chiang H, Taheri ML, Barsoum MW. Edge Capping of 2D-MXene Sheets with Polyanionic Salts To Mitigate Oxidation in Aqueous Colloidal Suspensions. Angew Chemie – Int Ed 2019;58:12655–60. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201906138.

[28]    Yan Z, Shi X, Huang Y, Deng X, Yang K, Liu X. Tribological Performance of Ni3Al Matrix Self-Lubricating Composites Containing Multilayer Graphene and Ti3SiC2 at Elevated Temperatures. J Mater Eng Perform 2017;26:4605–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-017-2907-0.

[29]    Petrus M, Woźniak J, Cygan T, Lachowski A, Moszczyńska D, Adamczyk-Cieślak B, et al. Influence of ti3c2tx mxene and surface-modified ti3c2tx mxene addition on microstructure and mechanical properties of silicon carbide composites sintered via spark plasma sintering method. Materials (Basel) 2021;14. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14133558.

[30]    Singh S, Han T, Chen X, Zhang C. Fabrication and assessment of dry sliding behavior of Ti3C2Tx-MXene reinforced nickel aluminide composites. Tribol Int 2024;200:110131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2024.110131.

[31]    ASTM Standard E92-23. Standard Test Methods for Vickers Hardness and Knoop Hardness of Metallic Materials. ASTM Int West Conshohocken, PA 2023. https://doi.org/10.1520/E0092-23.

[32]    ASTM Standard G99-23. Standard Test Method for Wear and Friction Testing with a Pin-on-Disk or Ball-on-Disk Apparatus. ASTM Int West Conshohocken, PA 2023. https://doi.org/10.1520/G0099-23.

Ahead of Print Subscription Original Research
Volume 13
06
Received 14/08/2025
Accepted 28/08/2025
Published 25/10/2025
Publication Time 72 Days
75


My IP

PlumX Metrics