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Activity Funded

Green Lubrication Interfaces Designed for Energy Efficiency

Interfaces de Lubrificação Verde Projetadas para Eficiência Energética

Reference
2024.16314.PEX
Project Start Date
2026-02-23
Project End Date
2027-08-22
Principal Investigator
Scientific Area
Engineering and technology
Funding Program
Concurso para Projetos de Investigação de caráter Exploratório em Todos os Domínios Científicos 2024

Abstract

The prosperity and economic growth of developed countries relies on the continuous and reliable access to affordable and clean energy. Diversification of energy sources has been pivotal to ensure energy security, while enhancing industrial output and competitiveness. Continued prosperity requires securing the sustainability of our energy use. A cornerstone in achieving this is the improvement of energy efficiency. In the case of manufacturing, as one example, improving the sustainability of machining processes relies on the elimination of hazardous waste, while increasing their energy efficiency through, for example, the efficient lubrication of tool/workpiece interfaces. In the case of transportation, as another example, the need to enhance engine efficiency is demonstrated by the fact that ~30% of the fuel used in vehicles is employed to overcome friction in the engine and transmission. Improved approaches for friction and wear management could not only result in enormous energy savings and benefits for industrial productivity, but also lead to drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The latter is an urgent challenge that requires timely actions to be taken to positively shape our ecosystem in the decades to come. A recent report to the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (US Department of Energy) estimated that significant energy savings of ~3.4 x 10e18 J can be achieved in the manufacturing sector alone by implementing state-of-the-art tribology solutions (tribology is the science and engineering of interacting surface in relative motion). The development of materials systems enabling the reduction of friction whileincreasing the lifetime of moving mechanical components is, thus, timely and requires extensive research to be carried out. As friction and wear are not materials properties, but a system response, fundamental tribological studies require shedding light on the interactions of the sliding bodies in the presence of a lubricant. Among the materials that recently attracted significant attention in tribology, diamond-like carbon (DLC) films and ionic liquids (ILs) have, respectively, been evaluated as wear-resistant surface engineering solutions and friction-reducing lubricant additives (for engine oil formulations or machining fluids). Despite the relevance of the studies that highlighted the benefits of independently using DLCs to decrease wear or ILs to reduce friction, the combined use of DLC coatings and ILs in tribological systems is still unexplored. As DLCs films with different structure and composition can be obtained depending on the deposition technique and conditions and given the number of ILs available (>1m, each with its own properties), identifying the origins of the interactions between ILs and DLCs surfaces under mechanical loading that lead to a reduction of friction and/or wear constitutes a critical step for establishing the knowledge necessary for rationally designing tribological systems that rely on the use of DLCs and ILs to achieve an improved tribological performance. The goal of the GLIDEE project is twofold: a) evaluate the friction and wear response of a class of advanced coatings, namely silicon- and cobalt-alloyed DLC (Si-DLC and Co-DLC), lubricated with a class of green, energy-efficient lubricants, namely phosphorus-based ionic liquids (ILs); and b) develop an understanding of the interactions between Si-/Co-DLC and phosphorus-based ILs controlling the lubrication performance. To achieve the goal of the project, a multi-technique, multi-scale approach will be used. The experimental approach will rely on an integrated study that couples the growth of Si-DLC and Co-DLC, the evaluation of the lubrication performance, and the elucidation of the underpinning lubrication mechanism through the identification of the phenomena occurring at sliding interfaces. These aspects are all intertwined, yet coordinated studies that bring together the required capabilities have been limited. The exploratory program will allow a diverse group of researchers to combine their efforts and exploit their complementary expertise to develop the knowledge needed to inform the required combination of structure/chemistry of DLCs and composition of ILs to produce the desired tribological behaviour. The outcomes of the project will thus lead to a paradigm shift through the development of the knowledge necessary for designing the combination of novel nanostructured alloyed-DLCs and ILs needed to achieve the required lubricating performance.

Institutions

Main Institutions

  • Universidade de Coimbra (UC)

Funding 59.965,40 €

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - Portugal

59.965,40 €