Coatings serve as ideal protective films for mechanical systems, providing dependable as well as efficient lubrication because of their unique structure along with outstanding tribological characteristics. Inspired by the “bricks-and-mortar” structure, we prepared layered graphene oxide (GO) composite finishes strengthened with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and borax. Our study demonstrates that the tribological properties of the GO-based coating on 304 stainless steel (SS304) are potentially greatly affected through PVA, GO, and annealing. By optimizing the composition, we achieved the PVA_{40 wt%}/GO_{0.01 wt%}/borax composite coating, which exhibited the lowest average coefficient of friction (COF) of 0.021±0.003 (a 97.86% reduction compared to control SS304) with minimal wear and abrasion even in a water environment. We found that the enhanced mechanical characteristics as well as elastic recovery within the coating were attributed to the hydrogen bonds and cross-linking between PVA and borax, which led to stress distribution. Reduced friction was further aided by the formation of a hydrated layer at the friction interface. As a result, the coating demonstrated remarkable durability, maintaining a low COF during long sliding distances (576 m, 28,800 cycles, significantly longer than previously reported) without breaking.

涂层作为机械系统的理想保护膜，由于其独特的结构和出色的摩擦学特性，提供可靠且高效的润滑。受“砖块和砂浆”结构的启发，我们制备了用聚乙烯醇（PVA）和硼砂增强的层状氧化石墨烯（GO）复合饰面。我们的研究表明，PVA、GO 和退火可能会对 304 不锈钢 (SS304) 上的 GO 涂层的摩擦学性能产生很大影响。通过优化成分，我们获得了 PVA _{40 wt%} /GO _{0.01 wt%} /硼砂复合涂层，其平均摩擦系数 (COF) 最低，为 0.021±0.003（与对照 SS304 相比减少了 97.86%），并且磨损最小即使在水环境中也能防止磨损。我们发现，涂层内增强的机械特性和弹性恢复归因于 PVA 和硼砂之间的氢键和交联，从而导致应力分布。在摩擦界面处形成水合层进一步有助于减少摩擦。因此，该涂层表现出卓越的耐用性，在长滑动距离（576 m，28,800 次循环，明显长于之前报道的时间）内保持较低的摩擦系数而不会破裂。