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Particle contamination at the head–disk interface (HDI) is a major concern for the long-term reliability of hard disk drives. In the current study, it is shown that, surprisingly, soft and lubricious talc particles have a significant damaging effect on the friction performance of media lubricants, nanometer-thick perfluoropolyethers. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the adsorption studies indicate that two mechanisms, Lewis acid–catalyzed decomposition and surface adsorption, are responsible for the observed tribological degradation. The potential impacts of the findings here on the design of next-generation media lubricant have been discussed.

The molecular arrangement and topography of ultrathin ionic liquids (ILs) on a silicon wafer have been studied by AFM and ARXPS, respectively. The results indicate a transition from an "anion-cation" layered (smooth) structure to a "drop-on-layer"/"sponge" (rough) structure when the film gets thicker, which can be attributed to the competition between solid/IL attraction and anion-cation cohesion.