http://www.mdpi.com/journal/lubricants Latest open access articles published in Lubricants at http://www.mdpi.com/journal/lubricants http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4442/1/2/48 One way to improve fuel efficiency in today’s jet aircraft engines is to create an environment for higher operating temperatures and speeds. New and improved lubricants and bearing materials must be developed to remain stable in these elevated operating temperatures. Three lubricants, with varying amounts of tricresyl phosphate added as an anti-wear/extreme pressure additive were tested on two different stainless steels at varying temperatures ranging from 300 °C to 350 °C in vacuum. Significant decomposition of the lubricant base-stocks and the phosphate ester additive did occur in most of the trials resulting in the formation of carboxylic acids and phenols. In these cases a film containing phosphorus was deposited onto the stainless steel substrate. Lubricants 2013-05-17 1 2 Article 10.3390/lubricants1020048 48 60 2075-4442 2013-05-17 doi: 10.3390/lubricants1020048 David Johnson Matthew Bachus John Hils http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4442/1/2/22 The use of materials with very attractive friction and wear properties has raised much attention in research and industrial sectors. A wide range of tribological applications, including rolling and sliding bearings, machining, mechanical seals, biomedical implants and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), require thin films with high mechanical strength, chemical inertness, broad optical transparency, high refractive index, wide bandgap excellent thermal conductivity and extremely low thermal expansion. Carbon based thin films like diamond, diamond-like carbon, carbon nitride and cubic boron nitride known as “super-hard” material have been studied thoroughly as the ideal candidate for tribological applications. In this study, the results of experimental and simulation works on the nanotribological behavior of carbon films and fundamental mechanisms of friction and lubricity at the nano-scale are reviewed. The study is focused on the nanomechanical properties and analysis of the nanoscratching processes at low loads to obtain quantitative analysis, the comparison obtain quantitative analysis, the comparison of their elastic/plastic deformation response, and nanotribological behavior of the a-C, ta-C, a-C:H, CNx, and a-C:M films. For ta-C and a-C:M films new data are presented and discussed. Lubricants 2013-04-02 1 2 Review 10.3390/lubricants1020022 22 47 2075-4442 2013-04-02 doi: 10.3390/lubricants1020022 Costas Charitidis Elias Koumoulos Dimitrios Dragatogiannis http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4442/1/1/3 Due to ever increasing demands on lubricants, such as increased service intervals, reduced volumes and reduced emissions, there is a need to develop new lubricants and improved wear additives. Ionic liquids (ILs) are room temperature molten salts that have recently been shown to offer many advantages in this area. The application of ILs as lubricants in a diverse range of systems has found that these materials can show remarkable protection against wear and significantly reduce friction in the neat state. Recently, some researchers have shown that a small family of ILs can also be incorporated into non-polar base oils, replacing traditional anti-wear additives, with excellent performance of the neat IL being maintained. ILs consist of large asymmetrical ions that may readily adsorb onto a metal surface and produce a thin, protective film under boundary lubrication conditions. Under extreme pressure conditions, certain IL compounds can also react to form a protective tribofilm, in particular when fluorine, phosphorus or boron atoms are present in the constituent ions. Lubricants 2013-01-21 1 1 Review 10.3390/lubricants1010003 3 21 2075-4442 2013-01-21 doi: 10.3390/lubricants1010003 Anthony Somers Patrick Howlett Douglas MacFarlane Maria Forsyth http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4442/1/1/1 Welcome to Lubricants, a new open access journal for researchers and practitioners working in the field of tribology. The journal will publish peer-reviewed research papers, reviews, letters and communications, as well as papers on research ideas and proposals. The concept of open access is exciting because it allows free access of all publications to anyone, resulting in the widest dissemination possible for the authors publishing in the journal. In addition, publication is rapid, and full use can be made of color figures which are published at no additional cost to the authors. The contents of the journal will nonetheless be archival and articles can therefore have a long-term impact. [...] Lubricants 2012-07-02 1 1 Editorial 10.3390/lubricants1010001 1 2 2075-4442 2012-07-02 doi: 10.3390/lubricants1010001 James E. Krzanowski