Super wear-resistant WB₄–B super-hard ceramic by in-situ formed lubrication film in high moisture

Only a few materials demonstrate ultra-low wear performance in specific fragile environments. we propose a self-adaptive wear strategy to achieve super wear-resistant properties in high moisture through the super-hard substrate and in-situ lubrication layer. We prepare “self-adaptive” super wear-resistant WB₄-B ceramics with a wear rate of 10^-7 mm³N^-1m^-1 in dry environments, relying on the superhard of the WB₄ and B dual-phase to maintain microstructural stability. The wear rate reduces further to 10^-8 mm³N^-1m^-1, accompanied by a low friction coefficient of about 0.1, by in situ H₃BO₃/WO₃ lubrication film in the moist environment. In addition, this super wear-resistance performance remains stable under high contact stress of 2.81 GPa and long friction cycles of 1 × 10⁵. The super wear-resistant resistance of WB₄-B ceramics, as well as demonstrating excellent adaptability in harsh conditions, improve component performance and reliability in environments often considered challenging for traditional materials.