Tribological properties of h-BN matrix solid-lubricating composites under elevated temperatures

Abstract h-BN matrix solid-lubricating composites containing SiC were fabricated by the spark plasma sintering technique. The prepared h-BN/SiC composites exhibited excellent lubricating performance in the wide temperature range from room temperature to 900 °C. With the content of the h-BN increasing from 50 to 75 vol%, the friction coefficients at room temperature decreased from 0.53 to 0.25. Up to 900 °C, the friction coefficients of the h-BN/SiC composites were 0.26–0.34. More content of h-BN was beneficial to reduce the friction coefficient but detrimental to the wear-resistance. The tribological mechanisms were analyzed in details.