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| WHIMS OF NATURE: A SELENIDE DESERT ROSE | ||
SANTIAGO DOMÍNGUEZ MEISTER |
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| A scanning electron microscopy picture showing a fancy feature formed on a tungsten selenide coating (WSe2) prepared by magnetron sputtering. Tungsten selenide has good lubricant properties, even in high humidity conditions, obtaining friction coefficients as low as 0.08. This particular behaviour results very advantageous to overcome the main drawback of molybdenum sulphide (the most common lubricant used in vacuum conditions), improving its tribological performance under atmospheric environments. The picture shows an unusual surface object created during the vacuum deposition, with a structure formed by “petals” that look like a “desert rose” rock, the rose-like formation of crystals which include abundant sand grains. Equipment: FEG Hitachi S5200 scanning electron microscope operated at 2 kV | ||
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