Integration of bubble phobicity, gas sensing and friction alleviation into a versatile MoS2/SnO2/CNF heterostructure by an impressive, simple and effective method

Abstract

The engineering of composite surfaces and interfaces of materials at the micro/nano-hierarchical level with multiple functionalities is attracting increasing attention due to their biomimetic technological applications, especially the self-cleaning with gas bubbles, gas sensing and sustainable anti-friction performances. Herein, the ternary MoS₂/SnO₂/CNF (CNF: carbon nanofiber) was designed and assembled by an in situ facile method. Interestingly, its microstructure exhibits a necklace-like morphology. The MoS₂/SnO₂/CNF shows desirable bubble phobicity under water and in a PAO4 environment on various substrates, an acceptable gas-sensing ability to target gas with a detection limit of 5 ppm and fascinating tribological performances for additives in different kinds of base/lubricating oils. These results demonstrate that the necklace-like ternary MoS₂/SnO₂/CNF structure could have numerous applications in one system and may provide a new perspective in composite surface and interface materials engineering.