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• Preparation of gallate ionic liquids (GAILs). • Their lubricating performances for copper and aluminum friction pairs are discussed. • The GAILs show prominent friction reduction and wear resistance properties. • The properties are attributed the formed physicochemical adsorbing films. In this study, four kinds of GAILs were prepared and used to lubricate copper and aluminum friction counterfaces. Their physicochemical and tribological properties were systematically investigated. The results showed that the GAILs have better performances with regard to viscosity-temperature characteristic, corrosiveness and hydrolytic stability as compared with the two traditional halogen-containing IL lubricants L-B104 and L-F104. Moreover, the most prominent nature of the GAILs are their excellent friction reduction and wear resistance properties as lubricants for copper and aluminum friction counterfaces, while traditional halogen-containing ILs are generally found to be unsuitable for lubricating these counterfaces. The excellent tribological properties of the GAILs are conjectured to be largely attributed to the physical/chemical adsorbed films formed by the GAIL molecules on the friction surfaces, which is further verified by QCM and XPS analysis results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]