DMREF: Development of Fundamental Design Rules for Material-Liquid-Nanoparticulate Interfaces that Optimize Control of Friction, Adhesion, and Wear

Project Personnel

Donald Brenner

Principal Investigator

North Carolina State University

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Brian Reich

North Carolina State University

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Alex Smirnov

North Carolina State University

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Jacqueline Krim

North Carolina State University

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Funding Divisions

Division of Materials Research (DMR), Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI), Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS)

A new approach for developing fundamental design rules for material-liquid-nanoparticulate interfaces that optimize control of friction, adhesion and wear will be developed that combines theory, simulation, statistics, material synthesis and characterization. This effort brings together chemistry, physics, engineering and statistics to develop a new class of lubricants composed of exceedingly-fine particles in different liquids that will improve upon the friction and wear reduction properties of traditional oil lubricants while significantly reducing their environmental impact. Effective control of friction, wear and adhesion has a vast range of applications that impact energy efficiency, national security, manufacturing, and the environment. Total frictional losses in a typical diesel engine, for example, exceed 10% of the total fuel energy. Reducing the losses to 1% would save roughly a billion gallons of diesel fuel in the U.S. alone. Furthermore, today's lubricants were developed in an era that focused on wear elimination over energy losses from friction, and did not consider environmental consequences. This effort also includes two public outreach activities, the first of which targets middle school students through job shadow opportunities and the second of which targets the general public through an entertaining citizen science learning module.

Publications

Machine-Learning Rationalization and Prediction of Solid-State Synthesis Conditions
H. Huo, C. J. Bartel, T. He, A. Trewartha, A. Dunn, B. Ouyang, A. Jain, and G. Ceder
8/5/2022
Tribotronic control and cyclic voltammetry of platinum interfaces with metal oxide nanofluids
11/15/2021
Sequential Optimization in Locally Important Dimensions
M. A. Winkel, J. W. Stallrich, C. B. Storlie, and B. J. Reich
2/26/2020
Tuning friction and slip at solid-nanoparticle suspension interfaces by electric fields
B. Acharya, C. M. Seed, D. W. Brenner, A. I. Smirnov, and J. Krim
12/9/2019
Dielectric and Electrostatic Properties of the Silica Nanoparticle–Water Interface by EPR of pH-Sensitive Spin Probes
V. Perelygin, M. A. Voinov, A. Marek, E. Ou, J. Krim, D. Brenner, T. I. Smirnova, and A. I. Smirnov
11/13/2019
A Tribological Study of γ-Fe2O3 Nanoparticles in Aqueous Suspension
T. N. Pardue, B. Acharya, C. K. Curtis, and J. Krim
9/12/2018
Synergistic Effect of Nanodiamond and Phosphate Ester Anti-Wear Additive Blends
B. Acharya, K. Avva, B. Thapa, T. Pardue, and J. Krim
6/18/2018
Quartz crystal microbalance apparatus for study of viscous liquids at high temperatures
B. Acharya, M. A. Sidheswaran, R. Yungk, and J. Krim
2/1/2017

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Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF)