In situ nanoscale evaluation of pressure-induced changes in structural morphology of phosphonium phosphate ionic liquid at single-asperity contacts.

ABSTRACT: In this work, we perform atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments to evaluate in situ the dependence of the structural morphology of trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate ([P_6,6,6,14][DEHP]) ionic liquid (IL) on applied pressure. The experimental results obtained upon sliding a diamond-like-carbon-coated silicon AFM tip on mechanically polished steel at an applied pressure up to 5.5 ± 0.3 GPa indicate a structural transition of confined [P_6,6,6,14][DEHP] molecules. This pressure-induced morphological change of [P_6,6,6,14][DEHP] IL leads to the generation of a lubricious, solid-like interfacial layer, whose growth rate increases with applied pressure and temperature. The structural variation of [P_6,6,6,14][DEHP] IL is p

SUBMITTER: Li Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8978665 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature