Abstract
It is clearly of importance to reduce friction to the lowest possible levels in lubricated machines, since frictional losses constitute a major cause of energy wastage. Examples of very low friction are to be found among the lubrication mechanisms of nature, which are exclusively based on water, involving complex biomolecules (e.g. mucins) that appear to generate brush-like structures on surfaces, and which impart highly lubricious properties. Attempts to imitate this have been quite successful, both on the nano and the macro scales, although the reasons for the low-friction behaviour are not completely understood. The objectives of the AQUALUBE project are to synthesize novel, brush-forming molecules, which closely mimic those found in nature; to investigate their properties as lubricant additives; to investigate the properties of the water in and around the brush systems, in the presence and absence of charge, and to model the tribological behaviour of the brush systems, with and without shear
Consortium
Project Leader:
Professor Nicholas Spencer
Department of Materials, Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Principal Investigators:
Professor Suzi Jarvis
Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Professor Joseph Klafter
School of Chemistry, Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Professor Michael Urbakh
School of Chemistry, Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
