Microstructure and properties of chessboard-textured (CFx)n/CaF2/C-ZrO2/TiO2 lubricant-hard composite coatings fabricated by electrospray mask in-situ formation

To further enhance the lubrication performance of composite coatings, this study employed an electrospray masking in-situ forming technology to fabricate textured (CF x ) n /CaF 2 /C-ZrO 2 /TiO 2 composite coatings. Their microstructures, mechanical properties, and reciprocating wear behaviors were investigated. Results showed that this technique could directly create high-quality chessboard microtextures during coating fabrication, integrating multiple materials on a single surface. Compared to non-textured LT samples, the CBM samples demonstrated enhanced coating-substrate adhesion strength (132 N, increased by 11 %), low friction coefficient (~0.09, reduced by 18.2 %) and wear rate (~1.86 × 10 −7  mm 3 ·N −1 ·mm −1 , reduced by 42.4 %) at 25 °C, and excellent self-lubricating performance across 200–600 °C. Mechanism analysis revealed that the chessboard structure exhibited a synergistic effect with the coating materials.