A Promising Conductive Lubricant for Space Sliding Electrical Contact: NbSe2-Ti Film

Vacuum-sliding electrical contacts find extensive application in aerospace components, yet they face limitations related to inadequate lubrication performance. In this study, we analyzed the design of an emerging conductive lubricant material, NbSe2. A series of NbSe2-Ti films with varying doped Ti contents were prepared through magnetron sputtering technology. We investigated the correlation between the sputtering current and composition, microstructure, mechanical properties, and current-carrying tribological properties of the films. The results indicate that under vacuum and current-carrying conditions, the NbSe2-Ti films demonstrate significant advantages over existing electrical-contact lubrication materials. Compared with electroplated gold films, the NbSe2-Ti films reduced the coefficient of friction from 0.25 to 0.015, thereby improving the wear life by more than six times. This result demonstrates that magnetron-sputtered NbSe2 film can be used as a lubricant for space current-carrying sliding contacts.