Abstract: A quantity of inorganic fullerene-like IF-MoS2 and IF-WS2 nanoparticles is prepared by solid-gas reaction, pre- cipitation and solvent thermal induced methods. Ni-P-(IF-WS2) composite coatings on aluminum alloy are prepared by elec- troless codeposition. (Ni, Mo)/ IF-(Mo, W)S2 gradient nan- ocomposite coatings and IF-(Mo, W)S2/ (Ni, Mo)-IF-(Mo, W)S2 multilayer nanocomposite coatings are deposited on alu- minum and titanium alloy substrates by magnetron sputtering and laser sputtering, respectively. The adhesion, friction and wear properties of the nanocomposite coating are evaluated using conventional scratch tester, a ball-on-disk tribometer both in vacuum (10–2 Pa) and in humid air. The Ni-P-(IF-WS2) composite coatings exhibite both higher wear resistance and lower friction coefficient than Ni-P electroless coating. The gradient and multilayer structures improve the adhesion of the coatings to alloy substrates. The (Ni, Mo)/ IF-(Mo, W)S2 grad- ient nanocomposite coatings and IF-(Mo, W)S2/ (Ni, Mo)-IF- (Mo, W)S2 multilayer nanocomposite coatings all show low friction coefficient and wear rate in different environments. The nanocomposite coatings containing IF-(Mo, W)S2 materials has excellent tribological stability.

Key words: Environment, Friction and wear, Inorganic fullerene-like, MoS2, Nanocomposite coating, WS2