Black phosphorus (BP) is a new class of two-dimensional (2D) layered material, which shows the unanticipated characteristics in many aspects including electronics, transistors, sensors, energy storage, batteries, photocatalysis, and other applications due to its high charge carrier mobility, tunable direct bandgap, and unique in-plane anisotropic structure. In addition, BP has drawn tremendous attention in the field of tribology due to the low shear strength, the layered structure, and the weak connected force between the layers by van der Waals interaction. In recent years, many significant progresses have been made in experimental studies on BP materials as solid lubricants or lubrication additives. This work offers a review of researching regarding the tribological properties of BP. Moreover, the lubrication mechanisms of BP as the lubrication additive including the formation of the tribo-film, micro-bearing effect, and self-repair performance are also summarized. Finally, the current challenges and prospects of BP material as lubricant are proposed.

Black phosphorus (BP) with a layered structure has been used gradually as a lubrication additive in the tribological area. In this study, BP powders are produced via an easy method of high-energy ball milling using red phosphorus as a raw material. Subsequently, BP nanosheets are prepared via liquid exfoliation in N-methyl pyrolidone solvent. The tribological behavior of BP nanosheets as water-based lubrication additives (BP-WL) is evaluated under Ti6Al4V (TC4)/GCr15 contact. The results suggest that the 70 mg/L BP-WL sample exhibits excellent lubrication performance, whose coefficient of friction (COF) and ball wear rate reduced by 32.4% and 61.1%, respectively, compared with those of pure water. However, as the load increased, the tribological properties of BP-WL reduced gradually because of the agglomeration of BP nanosheets. Based on tribological experiments and worn surface analysis, boundary lubrication mechanisms are proposed. The friction reduced, which is primarily attributed to the low interlaminar shear and adsorption of BP nanosheets. In addition, a tribochemical reaction film comprising TiO₂, Al₂O₃, and Fe₂O₃ effectively protects the surface of titanium alloy/steel from wear. This new water-based lubrication additive can be used to process titanium alloys.