The vacuum tribological behaviors of PCD against different mates were evaluated.
The COFs of PCD/Al2O3 and PCD/GCr15 are much lower than those of other tribopairs.
The high COFs of PCD/SiC and PCD/Si3N4 are attributed to the serious adhesion.
Abrasive wear of PCD/GCr15 is due to embed diamond grains in mating ball.
Low ultimate mate roughness leads to superior tribological behavior of PCD/Al2O3.