Nanoscale Mechanics and Tribology of 2D Materials and Thin Films

A special issue of Lubricants (ISSN 2075-4442).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2024) | Viewed by 2237

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
Interests: nanotribology; liquid–solid interfaces; nanomechanics; tribochemistry; lubricant additives; scanning probe microscopy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tribology is the study of friction, wear and lubrication between two surfaces in relative motion. The importance of tribology can be realized by the fact that energy losses equal to more than one third of the total energy produced annually can be linked to tribological issues. Such energy inefficiencies not only have a detrimental impact on our environment but also result in the early failure of critical machine components due to friction and wear. Overall, it is estimated that losses equivalent to about 2% of the GDP of industrialized nations results from poor understanding and control of tribological phenomena. Two-dimensional materials are emerging as potential lubricants in the form of coatings and as additives to industrial lubricants, providing significant reductions in friction and wear losses considering their superior mechanical and tribological properties. For example, graphene has demonstrated superlubricity at nanoscale as well as under macroscopic sliding contact geometries owing to its extremely low shear strength under certain specific sliding conditions. Two-dimensional materials are also ideal candidates as solid lubricants for applications in harsh environments, such as for space vehicle components exposed to radiation, vacuum conditions and for high-temperature applications where conventional lubricants will fail. These are also ideal materials for small-scale applications such as micro- and nano- electromechanical systems (MEMs and NEMs), considering atomically thin layers that can efficiently reduce friction and wear. Exploring the fundamental mechanisms governing tribological properties as well as finding new applications are key to addressing the energy inefficiency, emissions, and reliability issues in existing and future components. In this Special Issue, we invite articles focusing on the nanoscale mechanical and tribological properties of 2D materials and other relevant thin film materials for addressing existing tribological problems relevant to all possible engineering applications, including moving components. 

Dr. Nitya Nand Gosvami
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • 2D materials
  • nanotribology
  • nanomechanics
  • solid lubricants

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 9326 KiB  
Article
Stability and Tribological Performance of Nanostructured 2D Turbostratic Graphite and Functionalised Graphene as Low-Viscosity Oil Additives
by Gustavo Alves Lau, Guilherme Oliveira Neves, Diego Berti Salvaro, Cristiano Binder, Aloisio Nelmo Klein and José Daniel Biasoli de Mello
Lubricants 2023, 11(4), 155; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants11040155 - 24 Mar 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1914
Abstract
The dispersion stability of carbon-based solid lubricants/lubricating oils remains a challenge to overcome. Recently, novel processing routes were developed to obtain 2D turbostratic graphite particles via solid-state reactions between B4C and Cr3C2 (GBC) and between SiC and Fe [...] Read more.
The dispersion stability of carbon-based solid lubricants/lubricating oils remains a challenge to overcome. Recently, novel processing routes were developed to obtain 2D turbostratic graphite particles via solid-state reactions between B4C and Cr3C2 (GBC) and between SiC and Fe (GSF) that present outstanding tribological properties in a dry scenario, as well as functionalized graphene (GNH). This work investigated the suspension stability of GBC and GSF particles (0.05 wt.%) dispersed in a low-viscosity polyol ester lubricating oil and their tribological performance. Ammonia-functionalized graphene (GNH) particles were also used as a reference. In order to evaluate the dispersion stability, in addition to the classical digital image technique, a much more assertive, reliable, quantitative and rarely reported in the literature technique was used, i.e., the STEPTM (Space and Time-resolved Extinction Profiles) technology. Reciprocating sphere-on-flat tribological tests were carried out, in which before contact, 0.2 μL of pure oil and suspension (POE + 0.05 wt.% of solid lubricant) was applied on a flat surface. The results showed that the GBC particles remained remarkably stable and reduced the sphere wear rate by 61.8%. From the tribosystem point of view, the presence of GBC and GSF reduced the wear rate by 18.4% and 2.2%, respectively, with respect to the pure oil, while the GNH particles increased the wear rate by 4.2%. Furthermore, the wear rate was improved due to the highly disordered carbon tribolayer formation identified on both surfaces. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanoscale Mechanics and Tribology of 2D Materials and Thin Films)
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