Abstract An ionic liquid-polyaniline/tungsten disulfide (IL-PANI/WS 2 ) composite was synthesized in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazole tetrafluoroborate (LB104) aqueous solution by in-situ polymerization and characterized Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. A current-carrying friction wear tester used to study the tribological properties of steel—steel copper—copper pairs lubricated an IL-PANI/WS ...